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offer you three options. First: We will not only let you continue the conflict, but we will in fact supply ammunition and weapons for both sides until such time that the conflict ends by itself.

“Second: The government will increase the military and police forces in order to crush anyone who starts a conflict — this option will for sure result in large-scale casualties. Third: The parties to the conflict must sit down together to have a dialogue and negotiate in order to find a peaceful resolution.”

These three options were presented clearly, unequivocally and emphatically by then Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare Jusuf Kalla to the conflicting parties in Poso, Central Sulawesi, back in 2001. And there was really no other option available than the third one — which was also the option the parties chose.

The dialogue process in Malino (part I) ensured and resulted in peace. The life of the people returned to normal.

I shared my experiences from assisting Pak Kalla in resolving the conflicts in Poso, Ambon (the Moluccas) and Aceh at a peace forum in Switzerland in 2006.

I explained how the three options shocked and woke the conflicting parties up and encouraged them to take the avenue of dialogue.

I also shared in the forum the strong words Pak Kalla communicated to those parties in Poso and the Moluccas who claimed to undertake their activities in the name of religion: “Do not believe that you, who kill or is killed by a follower of another religion than yours, will go to heaven. You will all go to hell.”

The more than 30 attending proclaimed experts and specialists on peace and conflict resolution were taken by real surprise with the approach of Pak Kalla — who by the way is not an expert, and does not have any formal education in conflict resolution — to solving conflicts.

However, as is evident, the conflicts in Poso, the Moluccas and Aceh were resolved successfully and in a dignified manner.

It is not surprising that several domestic and foreign universities have afforded Pak Kalla Doctor Honoris Causa titles. He is different from most people who generally subscribe to the principle of NATO (No Action Talk Only).

It is not unwarranted that some people describe him as The Man of Action. Pak Kalla and his team worked on the ground or in the field until they understood the root causes of the conflict and then provided solutions based on input from the grass-roots level.

It is very unfortunate that those (self-) proclaimed experts and specialists who are clever in doing analyses and have never resolved a conflict give premature statements of actual facts.

This is what happened also in the opinion piece by Michael Vatikiotis titled “Resolving conflict in Indonesia” which appeared in the July 30 edition of The Jakarta Post.

Mr. Vatikiotis neither knows, understands nor has experienced the conflict resolution processes of Poso, Ambon and Aceh — which I was involved in as a member of Pak Kalla’s core team.

Mr. Vatikiotis does not know how Pak Kalla emphasized the importance of building mutual trust between the conflicting parties and safeguarding the dignity of each party.

Mr. Vatikiotis does not know how the process was done; from the phase of identifying and approaching the various actors, to the phase of exerting influence on the actors in a humane and familiar manner, be it through their children, wives, parents or other relevant parties. It is a gross misstatement to say that women were not involved.

And reaching a peace agreement is not the end in a peace process. After the peace agreement, implementation and monitoring of the provisions of the peace agreement must be carried out. It includes overseeing and fostering the peace.

Many things have been done or are done by the government and peacemakers in Indonesia in overseeing and fostering peace; however, for obvious reasons, not all of them are exposed to media. This is what is meant by fully integrated conflict resolution.

We always place the conflicting parties on the same level. We invite the parties to sit together at the table as a symbol of their equal status as dialogue partners. All parties have the right to speak and express their respective opinions.

Next week we will celebrate the sixth anniversary of the Aceh Peace Accord and the peace there has so far continued to progress positively, which is at least a kind of proof that we Indonesians have done things right.

The writer was a member of the Conflict Resolution Team for Poso, the Moluccas and Aceh and the team leader for the Helsinki Negotiations. Now he chairs the Special Delegation of the President of the Republic of Indonesia for Peace in Papua.