TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Aceh peace `boosts SBY's popularity' over Kalla
Most Acehnese see President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as the key figure in establishing peace in the once conflict-torn province, prompting hundreds of ex-rebels to join the Yudhoyono-Boediono campaign team, rights activist Asmara Nababan said Tuesday
Change Size
Most Acehnese see President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as the key figure in establishing peace in the once conflict-torn province, prompting hundreds of ex-rebels to join the Yudhoyono-Boediono campaign team, rights activist Asmara Nababan said Tuesday.
Nababan, a former secretary general from the National Commission of Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and now the executive director of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights (Demos), said the establishment of peace in Aceh gave the incumbent Yudhoyono an edge.
"What most Acehnese know is that the 2005 Helsinki peace agreement was built by the hard work and strong efforts from both the Free Aceh Movement *GAM* and the Indonesian government.
"And by the government, what they see is SBY," Nababan told The Jakarta Post after a discussion about democracy in Aceh at the Nikko Hotel.
This view explains the fact that both the Aceh Party, established by former GAM rebels, and SBY's Democratic Party, won the most votes in the April 9 legislative elections, Nababan said.
The Aceh Party gained 47.83 percent of seats at the Aceh Legislative Council followed by the Democratic Party with 14.49 percent.
The Aceh Party, and five other local parties, are prohibited from contesting seats at the House of Representatives and participating in the presidential election as regulated by the law on Aceh administration.
The Aceh Party's secretary-general, Yahya Muad, said his party was neutral as it did not support any one presidential candidate.
However, Nababan claimed that most Aceh Party voters were likely to vote for the SBY-Boediono pair.
"I know many former GAM members are now supporting the SBY-Boediono pair," he said.
Aceh Party spokesman, Adnan Beuransyah, also acknowledged that some party members were now campaigning for SBY and Boediono.
"However, they are acting in their capacity as individuals, not as party representatives," he told Antara news agency.
Yahya denied that most of his party members would abstain from voting in the upcoming presidential election.
"Our members are free to vote for any candidate they desire in accordance with their conscience.
"We will support whoever wins the presidency," he said.
Earlier this month, presidential candidate Jusuf Kalla claimed that he had played the biggest role in bringing about peace in Aceh. (bbs)
