Aceh Kita - February 7, 2006

M Isma & Saiful Bahri, Banda Aceh - Demonstrations
“opposing” the Home Affairs Department’s revisions
to the Draft Law on a Government for Aceh (RUU-PA)
are continuing and spreading. This time it was the
turn of Student Solidarity for the People (SMUR) and
the Bireuen Civil Society Alliance (AGSB) to protest
the draft law that they say fails to accommodate the
aspirations of the Acehnese people.

The action on Monday February 6 was the third
recorded in Aceh since the Department of Home
Affairs submitted the draft law to the House of
Representatives (DPR). Protests have sprung up
because demonstrators believe the government has
ignored the aspirations contained in the Acehnese
people’s version of the RUU-PA.

During the action, SMUR secretary general Rahmat
Djailani urged that the RUU-PA become the basis for
the welfare and justice for the Acehnese people.
According to Djailani, the omission of 37 articles
by the government indicates a blocking of the
development of a people’s democracy and the
nationalisation of mineral, energy and other natural
resources.

Djailani accused the national political elite of
being unwilling for Aceh’s natural resources to be
enjoyed and managed by the Acehnese people. “What is
in their minds is how Aceh’s natural resources can
continue to be taken away leaving the Acehnese
people to remain in poverty”, he said.

In relation to this issue, SMUR is calling for the
RUU-PA to be able to guarantee the welfare of the
Acehnese people. This can be fulfilled if the
government includes all of the articles that had
already been discussed by Acehnese society
beforehand.

SMUR’s position he told journalists after giving a
speech is to reject the version of the RUU-PA that
does not included the articles on independent
candidates and the nationalisation of mineral,
energy and other natural resources in Aceh. “These
two points or these articles are a prerequisite for
the welfare of the people”, he said.

SMUR he said is calling on the Acehnese people not
to no longer trust the old political elite, the
remnants of the New Order regime that have
transformed themselves into various new forms. It is
for this reason that they are calling on the
Acehnese people to prepare themselves to confront
future efforts to impoverish them.

Bireuen

In Bireuen meanwhile, it was reported that hundreds
of demonstrators from AGSB also protested the
central government’s actions in trimming away the
aspirations of the Acehnese people.

In a statement the Alliance strongly rejected the
cutting down of the RUU-PA so that it no longer
contains the substantial demands of the Acehnese
people such as independent candidates and the
authority of an Acehnese government. They also
condemned the arrogant attitude of the political
elite in the government and the DPR who do not wish
for the Acehnese to be safe, affluent and dignified.

The Alliance appealed to the Acehnese people not to
use their right to vote in the elections of the next
Acehnese governor later this year if the substance
of the people’s aspirations are not accommodated in
the RUU-PA. Nevertheless, the Alliance called on the
people to monitor the discussions of the RUU-PA and
to safeguard the peace that has been created in
Aceh. In addition to this the Alliance is urging the
Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) to actively
participate in monitoring the discussion phase of
the draft law as mandated by Point 5.2e in the
Memorandum of Understanding between the Free Aceh
Movement and the Indonesian Government.

The demonstration by AGSB started in Peusangan. They
then went to the AMM representative offices in
Bireuen and then to the Regional House of
Representatives (DPRD) by bus. On arriving at the
parliament they were confronted by a blockade of
police officers. In front of the DPRD they held
speeches and called on the members of the DPRD to
meet with them.

“If we cannot all fit into the air-conditioned
chamber, then we ask the members of the DPRD to come
down and hear our statement, that will later be
faxed to the president of Indonesia, the Minister of
Home Affairs, the DPR and the Acehnese DPRD”,
shouted Fuadi though a microphone.

A number of assembly members then met with the
demonstrators. “We have already spoken with the
leaders [of the demonstration], and we have
submitted their statement to the secretariat to be
faxed to the parties they requested”, explained
Murdani Yusuf, the head of the Bireuen DPRD’s
Commission A. [dzie]

[Translated by James Balowski.]

The INDOLEFT news service is produced by the
Indonesian Centre for Reform and Social
Emancipation (INCREASE) and Action in Solidarity
with Asia and the Pacific.

INDOLEFT News Service
Jl. Tebet Timur Dalam VIII No. 6A
Jakarta Selatan 12820
Indonesia

Phone: 6221 830 7235
E-mail: jamesbalowski yahoo.com