Government not serious about resolving Aceh question peacefully: FPDRA

Fpdra.org – July 1, 2005
Acehnese students rally support of peace process (Tarmizy Harva)
Acehnese students rally support of peace process (Tarmizy Harva)

Alisa P, Jakarta – The operation to restore security in Aceh is continuing. In order to support the operation the Defense Department has submitted a budget request for 530.27 billion rupiah. In the letter, the Minister of Defense hopes that it will be release by the end of June at the latest.

The budged submission was contained a letter from the Minister of Defense which was classified as confidential and dated June 22. Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono signed the letter, which was submitted to the Finance Minister. The chairperson of the People’s Representative Assembly’s Commission I on June 24 also received a copy of the letter.

Thamrin Ananda, the chairperson of the Acehnese Popular Democratic Resistance Front (FPDRA), says that the budget submission indicates that the government is not serious about the peace negotiations in Helsinki between the government and the Free Aceh Movement. On the one hand the government is showing the public that the government now has good intentions while on other hand the government through the Department of Defense continues to plan for to ongoing military operation in Aceh.

Thamrin Ananda, the chairperson of the Acehnese Popular Democratic Resistance Front (FPDRA), says that the budget submission indicates that the government is not serious about the peace negotiations in Helsinki between the government and the Free Aceh Movement. On the one hand the government is showing the public its good intentions to solve the conflict while on other hand the government through the Department of Defense continues to plan for to ongoing military operation in Aceh.

Ananda added that if this kind of position is maintained, it will be even more difficult to resolve the Aceh conflict, let alone find a common view on the realities of the conflict in Aceh. On this issue I see there are massive business interests on the part of the military in its operations in Aceh so that it is very difficult to end the military operation there.

Meanwhile a member of the Commission I Budgetary Panel, Djoko Susilo, is questioning the budgetary submission because the budget proposal is not intended to come from the state budget since Aceh has returned to a normal state. The state of civil emergency in Aceh ended on May 18 and since then Aceh has returned to state of civil authority. As of Tuesday evening June 28, the Budgetary Panel was still discussing the submission. (*)

[Translated by James Balowski.]