The Jakarta Globe, December 16, 2013.
Banda Aceh. Aceh installed on Monday a former separatist leader as the autonomous province’s Wali Nanggroe — a “guardian of the state” who will oversee a bureaucracy tasked with safeguarding Acehnese culture and values.
Malik Mahmud Al-Haythar, 72, a former prime minister of the now-disbanded Free Aceh Movement (GAM), a separatist group, was installed in a lavish inauguration ceremony in Banda Aceh that cost the province Rp 2.5 billion ($208,000).
He was sworn in at a plenary session of the provincial legislature, or DPRA, as more than 1,000 guests, mostly local officials, looked on.
Indonesia’s state administrative minister, the Aceh Police chief and the provincial military commander were in attendance, according to local media reports.
“This is a very touching, heroic moment because today we’re installing the Wali Nanggroe to keep us connected with our past traditions and at the same time develop Acehnese culture and values to be in line with the universal context,” legislative speaker Hasbi Abdullah said in a speech at the ceremony.
In his inaugural speech, Singapore-born Malik cited the challenges he saw for the province, including economic and social disparities among the people and the threat of globalization to local culture.
He also said he would work to improve education in the province.
“We need a revolution in education, in line with the ongoing transformation of knowledge in Aceh,” he said.
“We want education to not only produce civil servants… but also to support a culture of innovation and creativity in the management of human resources, to allow Acehnese children to develop the capacity to compete and create jobs, as well as to develop Acehnese culture and make it part of the world’s culture.”
The appointment of the Wali Nanggroe was set in motion last year under the terms of a bylaw that defined the Wali as a “cultural leader who will unite the people; independent and dignified, with an authority to educate and oversee the work of cultural institutions, the use of [traditional] languages and the organization of traditional ceremonies.”
The bylaw, the legislature has argued, was a mandate of the Helsinki Agreement, signed by the GAM and the Indonesian government in 2005 to end decades of bloody insurgency in Indonesia’s westernmost province, where a local version of Islamic shariah law is now enforced. Malik was reportedly one of the GAM’s main negotiators in Helsinki.
The central government rejected an earlier version of the bylaw that would have granted the Wali Nanggroe supreme authority in the province, including the ability to overrule the provincial legislature and the president of Indonesia.
Only after the revisions were completed could the inauguration ceremony, originally scheduled for September, take place.
Malik was unofficially named the ninth Wali Nanggroe by former GAM members, replacing former leader Hasan Tiro, who died in 2010, according to the BBC. The office of the Wali Nanggroe is a tradition that dates back to the Dutch colonial era.
Thousands of residents who were not admitted to the ceremony gathered outside the DPRA offices.
Effendi, 24, said he was disappointed that he and 40 other people from his village in the Aceh district of Pidie were not allowed in. Nevertheless, he said he had high hopes for the new leader.
“I do hope that peace in Aceh will last eternally,” Effendi said. “Hopefully with a Wali Nanggroe, prosperity will be enjoyed by people throughout Aceh.”
Not all Acehnese were happy with Malik, however. Protests were held in a number of regions, and critics have expressed disappointment at the Aceh Party, the ruling party in the province made up mostly of former GAM members, for selecting the Wali from among their own.
The Home Affairs Ministry did not respond to requests for comment on its stance on the appointment.
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ma 16 dec 2013 - 19:59