Ambassador Hume Discusses Election Plans with Acehnese

UNCLAS JAKARTA 000459

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MTS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF ID
SUBJECT: Ambassador Hume Discusses Election Plans with Acehnese
Leaders

1. (U) Summary: In early March Ambassador Hume met with senior
Acehnese political and security officials including the governor and
the provincial police chief to discuss the upcoming legislative

elections and the Mission's plan to dispatch personnel to the
province to observe the situation. Governor Irwandi and Vice
Governor Nazar, both of whom have called for international election
monitors, told Ambassador Hume that they strongly support the
Mission's plan and believed it could ease tensions in critical
areas. Chief of Police Aditya Warman told the Ambassador that the
situation in Aceh was conducive for peaceful elections and that
Mission personnel visiting the region would be safe. End Summary.


2. (SBU) Meeting with Ambassador Hume on March 6, Aceh Governor
Irwandi Yusuf repeated earlier claims that elements of the military,
particularly those from Kopassus and BAIS, are intimidating voters
and threatening members of local parties, particularly Party Aceh.
In some cases, he said, the military works through former
anti-militia groups, in others, they do it themselves, such as in a
recent case where military personnel were filmed tearing down the
banners and signs belonging to Party Aceh. That case was unique, he
said, because it generated such intense press coverage and public
outcry that 10 TNI personnel were ultimately punished.


3. (SBU) Irwandi told the Ambassador that President Yudhyono had
promised to replace Aceh Military Commander Maj Gen Soenarko. This
would, Irwandi said, ease tensions and send a strong message that
the military should stay out of politics. Unfortunately, Irwandi
added, the President gave no indication when this would occur.


4. (SBU) Referring to the Mission's plans to deploy personnel to
Aceh during the elections, Irwandi encouraged the Ambassador to pay
particular attention to the situation on the east coast between the
districts of East Aceh and Bireuen, in the central highlands, and
along the south west coast. Those areas have significant numbers of
ex-militia, he said, and will be particularly vulnerable to
instability. Irwandi also said to be on the look out for a new
strategy comparing supporters of "separatist parties" to members of
the communist party (PKI) in the 1960s.


5. (U) Provincial Police Chief General Aditya Warman told the
Ambassador that the security environment was conducive for fair
elections and that Mission personnel traveling in the region would
be safe. Warman had just returned from visiting areas outside the
provincial capital and said that he was pleased to find that common
people were firmly committed to peace and did not want renewed
conflict. It was, he said, actually better than he expected and
better than in Maluku when he arrived as police chief in 2004.


6. (SBU) On March 9, Aceh Vice Governor and head of the local SIRA
party Muhammad Nazar told Ambassador Hume that international
election observers were needed, and thanked him for sending Mission
personnel to the region. Observers would be particularly important
in the central highlands where historic divisions and military and
militia activities were leading to instability, he said. Pidie Jaya
was another area of special concern, he added, not just because of
the militia presence, but also because it was the home region of
some of the most divided of ex-GAM's leaders.


7. (SBU) Nazar added that President Yudhyono's visit the previous
week had eased tensions in the province. The president's speech, he
said, was interpreted by Acehnese as a rebuke on both the military
and Party Aceh and all others who were disturbing the peace. The
effect in the field, he said, was better behavior by both Party Aceh
and the Military. Hume