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TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1524
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0043
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 3263
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RHHJJPI/USPACOM HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS JAKARTA 012779 
 
SIPDIS 
CORRECTED COPY - SIGNATURE ADDED 
SIPDIS 
 
From American Consulate Medan # 29, 2006 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC KDEM ID
SUBJECT:  ACEH PEACE PROCESS MOVING FORWARD, HEADING TOWARD 
ELECTIONS WITH GAM PARTICIPATION 
 
REF: (A) Jakarta 10572 
 
     (B) Jakarta 08734 
     (C) Jakarta 04811 
     (D) 05 Jakarta 14018 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. The Aceh peace process continues to move forward. 
Elections have been scheduled for December 11, and work has 
begun on implementing the Law on Governance of Aceh (LOGA). 
The Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) is winding down its work 
and expects to cease operation on December 15. 
Reintegration payments to former combatants have been halted 
over the Free Aceh Movement's (GAM) reluctance to provide 
names of recipients.  However, GAM is actively campaigning 
for the December elections and is represented in two 
separate gubernatorial tickets.  Embassy Jakarta plans to 
provide election observers.  End Summary. 
 
Moving Forward 
-------------- 
 
¶2. Consulate and Embassy officers visited Aceh on October 11- 
12 to assess the political situation as the province, which 
is recovering from a long civil war and the 2004 tsunami, 
prepares for its first local elections in decades. 
Following the Indonesian Parliament's passage of the Law on 
the Governance of Aceh (LOGA), as provided in the August 
2005 Helsinki Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) ending 
hostilities between GAM and the GOI, the peace process has 
moved into a new phase (ref A).  Elections for Governor and 
for Regent (administrative head) in Aceh's 18 districts are 
scheduled for December 11, GAM candidates are actively 
campaigning for the election, and a Joint Forum (FORBES) 
with membership from GOI, GAM, and the Indonesian military 
(TNI) has started to discuss implementation of the LOGA. 
 
AMM Completes Its Work 
---------------------- 
 
¶3. The Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM), whose mandate was 
extended to December 15, will have no role in election, but 
the European Union is planning to send up to 80 observers to 
Aceh for the election.  AMM Principal Deputy Head of 
Mission, Malaysian Major General Mohammad Rozzi bin Baharom, 
told us that the AMM would not engage in the election 
campaign unless it saw evidence of discrimination against 
GAM candidates.  AMM political advisor Rochelle Cohen noted 
the AMM was already winding down its mission in Aceh and 
confirmed that its work, which had been focused on the 
implementation of the MOU, would formally end on December 
¶15.  All disputed prisoner cases had been resolved by August 
15, she said, and TNI and police forces were within the MOU- 
required numbers.  The 14,000 troops and 9,100 police 
remaining in Aceh were all "organic" (permanently stationed 
there) and the TNI was engaged in rebuilding, reconstruction 
and repositioning of its forces around Aceh in accordance 
with its new emphasis on external defense. 
 
GAM Election Rivalry Sharpens 
----------------------------- 
 
¶4. Publicly, GAM representatives have said nothing to 
challenge or discourage its former adherents from 
participating in the upcoming elections.  Our discussions 
with GAM rank and file during our visit underscored they 
will not fully sign on to the political process until they 
see concrete results in self-governance.  However, GAM's 
direct affiliation with two separate gubernatorial- 
vicegubernatorial candidacies underscores its decision to 
participate seriously in the elections.  One ticket is led 
by Humam Hamid, a member of the Pancasila Patriot Party. 
Hamid is not a former GAM member, but his running mate, 
Hasbi Abdullah, is a former political prisoner and the 
brother of Zaini Abdullah, a GAM leader still in Sweden. 
(The Pancasila Patriot Party is a small national party which 
did not win any seats in the national legislature in 2004.) 
Hamid claims to have the endorsement of Malik Mahmoud, the 
senior GAM leader in Sweden, and told us Mahmoud believed it 
was too early for an ex-GAM governor and had therefore opted 
to support a "peace coalition" by partnering with an 
established party.  The other GAM ticket is led by former 
Aceh GAM leader Irwandi Yusuf (known overwhelmingly by his 
first name, Irwandi), who is running as an independent 
candidate and is paired with another independent, Muhammad 
Nazar, a former political prisoner who is not associated 
with GAM.  Irwandi is running as an independent because the 
MOU requires that GAM dissolve itself as part of the 
transition. 
 
¶5. Although neither of the two tickets has an explicit GAM 
identity, Hamid's apparent endorsement by the expatriate GAM 
leadership and Irwandi's transparent identity as a former 
GAM leader make clear the extent of GAM involvement in the 
election campaign.  Already considerable rivalry has emerged 
between the two gubernatorial candidates, indicating a 
possible split within the GAM over election strategies. 
Irwandi must still assemble the required number of 
signatures to qualify as an official candidate, but other 
steps he has taken in the run-up to the official campaign 
season confirm his intentions.  In line with election 
regulations require that candidates not hold political 
office, Irwandi has announced his resignation as the GAM's 
representative to the AMM, the Aceh Reintegration Board 
(BRA) and the Joint Forum (FORBES). 
 
Reintegration Funds Halted 
-------------------------- 
 
¶6. Under the terms of the Helsinki MOU, BRA has 
responsibility to support the reintegration of former GAM 
combatants into Acehnese society.  BRA Economic Bureau chief 
Islahuddin told us the BRA works with the Subregency 
Development Program (i.e., at the county level) to implement 
this reintegration program.  He explained the allotment of 
funds to villages was based on village size and past level 
of impact of the insurgency on that village.  However, BRA 
had not been able to fully distribute payments to former 
rebels nor provide them with needed training.  The national 
government had allocated a total of $60 million through 2006 
and another $70 million in 2007 for integration.  Only $12.5 
million of that had been released, however, largely because 
GAM had not provided the names of intended recipients.  As 
had been the case with IOM's 2005 emergency payments to 
former GAM (ref D), Islahuddin noted, GAM refusal had forced 
BRA to halt payments because of the BRA's accountability 
requirements.  Islahuddin said he could not proceed further 
on this basis without explicit authorization from Jakarta. 
 
LOGA Implementation 
------------------- 
 
¶7. Describing the 20-member FORBES -- charged with 
implementing the LOGA -- as ineffective, Wiratmadinata, 
Deputy Director of Aceh NGO Forum, complained board members 
had no time because they were busy campaigning for 
candidates in the upcoming elections.  He asserted Usman 
Hassan, FORBES chairman, had never attended a meeting in 
three months.  Wiratmadinata believed it would take years to 
complete the 90-plus regulations needed to implement the 
LOGA.  USAID-funded Advisor to the Governor Leroy 
Hollenbeck, however, argued the regulations could be 
forthcoming reasonably soon from the provincial assembly, 
which had formed multiple committees to accelerate work on 
the regulations.  Hollenbeck also noted USAID had hired a 
consultant for FORBES, which should enhance FORBES' 
effectiveness. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8. In addition to the two GAM-affiliated gubernatorial 
tickets, several other clearly identifiable GAM campaigns 
(all as independents) at the district level, confirm GAM is 
moving squarely into the political arena in Aceh.  GAM's 
participation in the election process bodes well for 
political reintegration of former combatants and its 
followers and for continued peace in Aceh.  AMM's downsizing 
and eventual departure soon after the elections (and long 
before a second round) is a further sign MOU implementation 
is on track.  A successful election on December 11, with the 
imprimatur of local monitors and international observers, 
will anchor that perception.  Embassy and Consulate intend 
to contribute a team of election observers to help ensure 
this result. 
PASCOE