DATE=11/17/1999
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=ACEH VS EAST TIMOR
NUMBER=5-44782
BYLINE=STEPHANIE MANN
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Less than three months after the people of
East Timor voted to separate from Indonesia, the new
Indonesian president is considering holding another
referendum to determine the future status of another
troubled province. But Stephanie Mann reports the
case of Aceh has some marked differences from the
situation in East Timor.
TEXT: East Timor, which is going through a U-N-
supervised transition to independence, was a
Portuguese colony until 1974. It became an Indonesian
territory only after the Indonesian Army invaded it in
1975. Its people are predominantly Catholic and speak
Portuguese, and they never considered themselves
Indonesian.
The history of Aceh, located on the northern tip of
Sumatra, contrasts sharply with that of East Timor.
For centuries, Aceh was an independent sultanate (or
kingdom). It is relatively sparsely populated, with
four million people who are ethnically homogenous and,
for the most part, devout Muslims.
After Netherlands conquered the Indonesian archipelago
in the late 19th century, Aceh became part of what was
called the Dutch East Indies. When the Dutch East
Indies fought for independence from the Netherlands,
Acehnese were enthusiastic participants in the
rebellion.
Bill Liddle is an Indonesia specialist at Ohio State
University.
/// LIDDLE ACT ONE ///
The Acehnese themselves say that what they did
was to contribute more than almost any other
province to starting the Republic of Indonesia.
They took a collection of gold. They bought an
airplane for the new republic, and so forth.
This was in 1945, when the Republic of Indonesia
was declared and the Acehnese were a part of
that.
/// END ACT ///
Professor Liddle says the Acehnese rebellion against
Jakarta began in the early 1950's, when the new
Indonesian government under President Sukarno reduced
Aceh's status from that of a province to being part of
the province of North Sumatra. Mr. Liddle says
President Sukarno changed his mind in the late 1950's.
/// LIDDLE ACT TWO ///
At that time, there was an agreement that the
Acehnese could have their province and they
could also have considerable autonomy to
determine local affairs. But that got swept
aside by the Sukarno government in the 1960's
and later on by the Suharto government. So, in
the minds of the Acehnese, there is a kind of
continual history of Jakarta's making promises
and not keeping those promises.
/// END ACT ///
Like Professor Liddle, political science professor
Daniel Lev of the University of Washington says
Acehnese came to believe they could not trust the
government in Jakarta. Professor Lev also says the
situation in Aceh further deteriorated when political
power became highly centralized in Jakarta.
/// LEV ACT ONE ///
What most influenced the situation in Aceh came
after the coup at the end of 1965, when
thereafter the Indonesian military became the
predominant force in politics. . And President
Suharto was inclined to permit the military to
manage problems in its own way. . And the more
force that was brought to bear in places like
Aceh, the more local people resented what was
happening.
/// END ACT ///
Professor Lev, a specialist on Southeast Asian
politics, says after 1989 Aceh was declared a "zone of
military operations" as the army tried to repress the
Acehnese rebellion. He says that in the ten years
since the army's authority was firmly established in
the region, there have been a large number of murders
and other atrocities.
The people of Aceh and East Timor share a sense of
outrage at the way they have been treated by the
Indonesian Army. They also share a resentment of the
national government's policy of transmigration, which
gave residents of densely populated Java incentives to
move to outlying regions.
But unlike East Timor, Aceh is important to
Indonesia's economic prosperity. Aceh accounts for
two percent of Indonesia's population but provides
about 13 percent of the country's revenues. For
example, Indonesia is the world's leading exporter of
liquified natural gas, and one third of that gas comes
from Aceh.
Professor Lev says Acehnese have long complained that
the Jakarta government was absorbing more than its
share of the revenues from Aceh's resources.
/// BEGIN OPT ///
/// LEV ACT TWO ///
Oil and liquid natural gas in Aceh were used for
the profit basically not only of Jakarta, but of
those working out of Jakarta and favored by
Jakarta. And this meant the national oil
company, Pertamina. It meant some other
entrepreneurs. It also meant some Acehnese
entrepreneurs who were favored by the regime in
Jakarta. The thing is that Aceh as a whole did
not greatly benefit from its resources, which
were simply sucked away.
/// END ACT ///
In addition to oil and gas, Aceh has other valuable
resources, including timber, gold and silver.
/// END OPT ///
The difference between Aceh and East Timor goes beyond
history and the economy. Professor Bill Liddle says
the two cases present potentially different
consequences for the future of Indonesia.
/// LIDDLE ACT THREE ///
East Timor was the end of something. The
separation, the independence of East Timor was
the end of something - a long struggle between
the ex-Portuguese colony of East Timor with the
Indonesian government. But the separation or
independence of Aceh is (would be) the beginning
of something - the beginning of the
dismemberment of Indonesia, I fear.
/// END ACT ///
However, Professor Liddle and other scholars are quick
to add that the independence of Aceh has not yet been
decided, and the government in Jakarta still has an
opportunity to take some positive steps to prevent
Aceh and other provinces from seeking independence -
and causing the disintegration of Indonesia. (Signed)
NEB/SMN/KL/gm
17-Nov-1999 11:57 AM EDT (17-Nov-1999 1657 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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