The late president Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid was successful in setting up a foundation for the peaceful settlement of separatist efforts in Aceh and Papua, using a controversial approach that did not see separatism as a form of resistance against the state, but as criticism against the government triggered by injustice.

“This approach was criticized by experts from Western countries who had stated that Gus Dur lacked managerial skills that eventually ruined everything. However, I can prove that with this approach, the Indonesian government could solve problems in Aceh and Papua,” Wahid Institute founder Ahmad Suaedy told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

In his dissertation titled “Footprints of Abdurrahman Wahid’s cultural citizenship vision in the settlement of Aceh and Papua conflicts, 1999-2001”, Suaedy was of an opinion that this approach had been successf...