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Foreign observers needed to monitor elections in Aceh
Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf underlined here on Friday the importance of the presence of foreign observers in the upcoming legislative elections in Aceh
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Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf underlined here on Friday the importance of the presence of foreign observers in the upcoming legislative elections in Aceh.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Dutch Minister of Justice Hirsch Ballin, Irwandi said that the presence of foreign observers was expected to help safeguard and improve supervision of the election process.
"The international observers are badly needed in Aceh at present, especially with regard to the presence of local parties," he said, adding that the deployment of foreign observers was vital to ensure that the elections ran smoothly.
"Despite the national regulations on foreign observers, we refer to Point 127 of the memorandum of understanding signed in Helsinki in 2005. Under this point the election in Aceh in 2009 has to be directly monitored by the foreign observers, especially those from the European Union," the governor said.
The election in April will the first direct election for the Acehnese to directly vote for their legislative council members. It will also be the first since the signing of the historic MoU between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian government in 2005.
Irwandi underlined the importance of the presence of the foreign observers apparently because of the hotting up of security matters in Aceh highlighted by a series of violent incidents, including kidnappings, shootings and murders over the last two months.
The Dutch minister of justice, who made a visit to Sumatra's northernmost province on Friday, was briefed by Irwandi about the security situation in Aceh ahead of the election.
"Besides intending to get the latest information on the security conditions in Aceh, the Dutch minister also wanted to check on the implementation of the MoU," the governor said.
Irwandi further explained that it could not be denied that there has been significant progress with regard to security conditions in Aceh since the signing of the peace agreement.
Many of the points of the MoU, have been implemented in the field, he said, including the establishment of local parties, which constituted the most important mandate to transform the armed struggle by GAM combatants into a political struggle.
One of the points which has not been implemented in line with the mandate of the MoU is the establishment of a human rights tribunal along with the establishment of a truth and reconciliation commission, the governor said.
Meanwhile, a group of students from the Democratic Care Students Alliance were busy tidying up campaign banners installed carelessly around the campuses of Syah Kuala University and the State Islamic Institute in Banda Aceh.
The students handed over the confiscated banners to the local chapter of the General Election Supervising Commission (Panwaslu).
The putting up of party emblems, ranging from banners, to stickers and flags around the campus compound was violating Law No. 10/2008 on the general election, which explained that educational institutions should be free from any campaign activities.
"We have taken down the emblems around the campus since Jan. 29, 2009, as they were put up against the regulations," said Syarkawi, coordinator of student activities.
