Twenty years have passed that both East and West Germans have united, but Germany still has to settle a number of problems of social and economic gaps inherited from the long years of country division, mainly in terms of unbalanced economic growth and a wide gap of prosperity between residents of the former Eastern Germany and Western Germany.

That is what is happening in Germany. What about Indonesia?

Of course, Indonesia has taken a historical path different from Germany. And to draw a conclusion of a complete similarity between the two countries is inaccurate and out of proportion.

But there are some similarities in both countries' histories. Present or modern Germany was born upon the unification of a number of kingdoms, thanks to mainly to Otto von Bismarck. Indonesia was also born out of the unification of kingdoms and regions, thanks to among others, Sukarno who was one of the country's key independent fighter figures and its founding president.

And the collapse of the Berlin Wall has at least given Indonesians a lesson that they can learn from. Such long years of division, along with the end of the Cold War between the Eastern and Western blocs, has led to the breakdown of the Berlin Wall and the integration of the then divided Germany.

The collapse of the Berlin Wall has undoubtedly shown the Germans' desire of a united Germany. And the united Germany has directly or indirectly inspired for the unification Europe through the European Union.

Indonesia, on the contrary, has been taking a different path. Although they are still small in number and intensity, there are movements or threats of separatism in a number of regions of the country, at least in remote regions of Papua - the country's easternmost province. The central government in Jakarta has introduced and imposed the special autonomous approach of development programs, similar to the one already adopted in Aceh (Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam) province. However, we still witness efforts to bring the Free Papua Movement (OPM) separatist movement into the limelight.

Meanwhile, the August 2005 peace agreement in Helsinki has indeed ended the years-long separatism of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). But careless handling of social, economic and political problems of the resource-rich Indonesia' westernmost province could trigger dissatisfaction among the Acehnese and relive the separatist movement there.

Similar to the still existing problems of social and economic gaps in Germany, both the existing separatist movement in Papua and the potential resurgence of separatism in Aceh are not easy tasks for the local Papua and Aceh administrations, as well as the central government, to do. But continuous and true efforts to settle the domestic problems of both Papua and Aceh could expectedly and gradually dispose of and end the root cause of separatism there.

Otherwise, they may grow bigger and at the end become too difficult to settle. We have had the experience with East Timor, which gained independence from Indonesia after a dramatic result of the UN-sanctioned referendum in August 1999. And we do not want a similar case to happen in Papua and/or Aceh.

The author is a staff writer at The Jakarta Post.

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