Aceh candidate accused of murder

Aceh candidate accused of murder

Michael Bachelard, Banda Aceh
April 7, 2012 Read later


Irwandi Yusuf, who is seeking to be elected to a second term as governor of Aceh, speaks to supporters at a campaign rally.

ONE of the two candidates likely to win the election in Indonesia's troubled western-most province of Aceh has accused the other of authorising up to 13 murders in the lead-up to Monday's poll.

In the middle of a televised debate on Thursday night, the former governor of Aceh, Irwandi Yusuf, who is seeking re-election, turned to challenger Zaini Abdullah and asked what he knew of ''the terrors that have taken place in Aceh''.

''The [national police] know the perpetrators came from [Zaini's party] Partai Aceh,'' Mr Irwandi said.

Mr Zaini responded that Mr Irwandi's question was ''provocative'' and said it was up to the police to complete their investigation. A spokesman had earlier told The Saturday Age that Mr Zaini denied the accusation.

The politics of Aceh, which until 2005 was fighting a bloody war for independence against Indonesia, have deteriorated recently into a battle between the two former independence fighters.

Mr Zaini and Mr Irwandi were, until Aceh accepted a ''special autonomy'' deal with Indonesia, allies and comrades-in-arms in the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). Both travelled to Helsinki seven years ago to witness the signing of the peace treaty that ended the struggle.

But the dispute, which has been festering almost since the peace deal was signed, burst into public when one of Mr Irwandi's closest allies was gunned down.

The argument has raised the potential for violence in Monday's election for governor and has also made many Acehnese question whether fighting for decades in the jungle is the best qualification for political office.

''The only thing we lack,'' construction contractor Chandra told The Saturday Age, ''is the right men in charge.''

The killings began in July last year after an influential figure within the ex-guerilla movement, Saiful Husein, known as Cagee, defected from Partai Aceh, the political offshoot of GAM, and joined Mr Irwandi's group. He was shot dead in a coffee shop.

Over the next six months, 12 more shooting deaths occurred.

After Cagee, all the victims were Javanese workers living temporarily in Aceh, and the main beneficiary of their deaths was Mr Zaini's party.

Some of Mr Irwandi's suspicions appeared to have been confirmed last month when the police anti-terror unit, Detachment 88, announced that those arrested for some of the murders were Partai Aceh members.

''It's true some of our sympathisers, they are ex-combatants who did that [shooting],'' said a Partai Aceh spokesman, ''but it doesn't mean that Partai Aceh gave the orders.''

Mr Irwandi said Partai Aceh had planned to assassinate him. ''They planned a bomb on the road they perceived I would be passing, but my intelligence intercepted their communication,'' he said.

Ed Aspinall, an Australian National University academic and long-time Aceh watcher, said it was likely that Partai Aceh was behind some or all of the 13 killings. The organisation still had the feeling of an army corps, he said, and it was a ''habit of heart, a part of their ideology, that they solve problems through violence''.

According to the rebels' code, Mr Irwandi is seen as a traitor to the movement. ''In the jungle during the struggle, if you were depicted as a traitor, it was a precursor to you being executed,'' Dr Aspinall said.

Police have not yet made clear what if any evidence they have linking the 13 murders to the party's top leaders.

Whatever the truth, former GAM combatants on either side of the factional divide can be dangerous, if only because of their access to weapons. Of perhaps 20,000 armed militants, GAM only admitted to 3000 as part of the peace process - a tactic to minimise the number of weapons surrendered.

For most Acehnese, the main concern is that economic development in Aceh appears painfully slow and the distribution of wealth unfair. At the candidates' debate, most of the questions focused on the typical concerns - health, education and jobs.

''GAM was good at running a war, but not so good at governing,'' said Chandra. ''The rich here are all government workers. We have many resources, minerals, gold, iron ore, and we need a stronger private sector.''


smh.com.au