A Nobel Peace Prize for SBY?

It was reported on page 2 of the Sept. 12 edition of The Jakarta Post that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) may be in the running for the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize as a result of his work in bringing about the August 2005 truce with GAM in respect of Aceh.

Whether or not SBY actually receives the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, the delivery, after so many years, of a lasting peace in Aceh will, likely, come to be viewed by Indonesian historians as SBY's greatest achievement during his time as President and something deserving of the gratitude of the Indonesian nation.

Contrary to the dire predictions of many which accompanied the 2005 truce, peace in Aceh has now prevailed for more than 12 months, a return to normal economic and social activity is becoming a reality for the Achenese, and the rest of Indonesia has not imploded as a result of the ""bad example"" for Indonesian sovereignty set by the 2005 truce.

SBY clearly recognized there was no military solution to the long running Aceh ""problem"" and that, while so long as the Indonesian government persisted in looking for such a military solution, Aceh would continue to be a source of needless human suffering as well as a cause of justified domestic and international criticism for the Indonesian government and an intolerable drain on its limited budgetary funds.

In accepting the reality of this politically unpalatable assessment, SBY has helped transform Aceh from being an East Timor-like ""pebble in the shoe"" for Indonesia into a real Indonesian ""success story"" at a time when Indonesia is demonstrably short of ""success stories"" in any field.

If SBY can, during the remainder of his term in office, replicate the success of the Aceh truce, even to a comparatively modest degree, in areas such as combating corruption and growing the Indonesian economy, SBY may be seen, by subsequent generations of Indonesians, as a ""great"" President and not merely as a ""good"" President. In these circumstances, winning the Nobel Peace Prize will seem quite unimportant by comparison.

WILLIAM A. SULLIVAN
Jakarta