VZCZCXRO0280
PP RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #0459 0750858
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 160858Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1838
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS COLL
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 3618

UNCLAS JAKARTA 000459 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MTS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF ID
SUBJECT: Ambassador Hume Discusses Election Plans with Acehnese 
Leaders 
¶1. (U) Summary: In early March Ambassador Hume met with senior 
Acehnese political and security officials including the governor and 
the provincial police chief to discuss the upcoming legislative 
 
elections and the Mission's plan to dispatch personnel to the 
province to observe the situation.  Governor Irwandi and Vice 
Governor Nazar, both of whom have called for international election 
monitors, told Ambassador Hume that they strongly support the 
Mission's plan and believed it could ease tensions in critical 
areas. Chief of Police Aditya Warman told the Ambassador that the 
situation in Aceh was conducive for peaceful elections and that 
Mission personnel visiting the region would be safe. End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Meeting with Ambassador Hume on March 6, Aceh Governor 
Irwandi Yusuf repeated earlier claims that elements of the military, 
particularly those from Kopassus and BAIS, are intimidating voters 
and threatening members of local parties, particularly Party Aceh. 
In some cases, he said, the military works through former 
anti-militia groups, in others, they do it themselves, such as in a 
recent case where military personnel were filmed tearing down the 
banners and signs belonging to Party Aceh. That case was unique, he 
said, because it generated such intense press coverage and public 
outcry that 10 TNI personnel were ultimately punished. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Irwandi told the Ambassador that President Yudhyono had 
promised to replace Aceh Military Commander Maj Gen Soenarko. This 
would, Irwandi said, ease tensions and send a strong message that 
the military should stay out of politics. Unfortunately, Irwandi 
added, the President gave no indication when this would occur. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Referring to the Mission's plans to deploy personnel to 
Aceh during the elections, Irwandi encouraged the Ambassador to pay 
particular attention to the situation on the east coast between the 
districts of East Aceh and Bireuen, in the central highlands, and 
along the south west coast. Those areas have significant numbers of 
ex-militia, he said, and will be particularly vulnerable to 
instability.  Irwandi also said to be on the look out for a new 
strategy comparing supporters of "separatist parties" to members of 
the communist party (PKI) in the 1960s. 
 
¶5. (U) Provincial Police Chief General Aditya Warman told the 
Ambassador that the security environment was conducive for fair 
elections and that Mission personnel traveling in the region would 
be safe.  Warman had just returned from visiting areas outside the 
provincial capital and said that he was pleased to find that common 
people were firmly committed to peace and did not want renewed 
conflict. It was, he said, actually better than he expected and 
better than in Maluku when he arrived as police chief in 2004. 
 
¶6. (SBU) On March 9, Aceh Vice Governor and head of the local SIRA 
party Muhammad Nazar told Ambassador Hume that international 
election observers were needed, and thanked him for sending Mission 
personnel to the region. Observers would be particularly important 
in the central highlands where historic divisions and military and 
militia activities were leading to instability, he said. Pidie Jaya 
was another area of special concern, he added, not just because of 
the militia presence, but also because it was the home region of 
some of the most divided of ex-GAM's leaders. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Nazar added that President Yudhyono's visit the previous 
week had eased tensions in the province. The president's speech, he 
said, was interpreted by Acehnese as a rebuke on both the military 
and Party Aceh and all others who were disturbing the peace.  The 
effect in the field, he said, was better behavior by both Party Aceh 
and the Military. Hume