Lhokseumawe – Concerns about the smooth running of the 2004 general elections in Aceh are becoming a reality. The Aceh Emergency Military Command has stated that it will restrict campaigns which involve large numbers of people in areas which are considered dangerous. In place of this, the military will allow individuals and political parties to campaign though the print and electronic media.

“Because there are still dangerous areas, we will ask political parties to focus their campaign in the media. This is so that these activities won’t be taken advantage of by irresponsible people to disrupt security”, said military spokesperson Colonel Laut E. Ditya Soedarsono on Sunday February 8.

Campaigning in areas which are safe may continue under security by the military and police. Because of this, political parties who are conducting campaigns will be obliged to report to the military beforehand. “This is intended so that we can anticipate the number of personnel which must be deployed to safeguard the campaign. So security operations will only be carried out based on a priority scale in a specific area”, he said adding that the areas which are still considered dangerous are the regencies of East Aceh, North Aceh, Bireuen, Pidie, Greater Aceh and Meurohom Daya in West Aceh.

However Aceh National Elections Committee (KPU) member Syarifah Rahmatillah rejected the military’s plan to restrict election campaigning. “Campaigning is a crucial stage in an election. So hey, if you can’t, they (the military) are [in fact] prohibiting election participants from campaigning”, explained Rahmatillah.

Rahmatillah acknowledged that they still did not know if the KPU needed a special legal instrument for Aceh. Because to date, all of the stages of the election have run smoothly. “Next Wednesday Aceh KPU will meet with the political parties. The results will be submitted to the military command to discuss whether military restrictions are needed”, said Rahmatillah.

The former chairperson of the regional board of the Aceh Indonesian Islamic School Students, Zulkifli M. Ali, said that campaigning represents a part of the process of political education, an opportunity for voters to be informed directly about what is being offered by the political parties. “If in fact it is restricted because of the state of emergency, the government needs to make special rules for Aceh”, he said. (ham)

[Translated by James Balowski.]