A dispute between former rebels threatens to undermine peace
Edward Aspinall
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Irwandi is riding high on the popularity of his healthcare programEdward Aspinall |
Aceh is scheduled to hold elections for governor, and for most district head and mayor positions, on 16 February 2012. These elections, which should be a crowning achievement of Aceh’s peace process, are going ahead in a state of great legal uncertainty and political tension. There have been three Constitutional Court challenges so far. The local parliament has passed a local regulation on the elections, which the local Independent Election Commission (KIP) is ignoring. The commission has designed its own framework for the election, which critics say is shot through with legal contradictions and inconsistencies. Acehnese politicians have been flying back and forth to Jakarta to lobby the president and other senior officials to take sides in the dispute. And leaders of by far the biggest party in the province – and one which will play an important role in sustaining peace – have taken a stance that means they will not participate in the elections. If the elections go ahead as scheduled, they threaten to undermine one of the major achievements of the peace process so far: the peaceful integration of former rebels into Indonesia’s democratic political processes.
At the heart of the dispute is the question of whether independent candidates – candidates not nominated by any political party – should be able to
