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STATE OF
ACHEH GAM calls for genuine democracy for Acheh The Free Acheh Movement (GAM) is pleased to announce that material progress is now being made towards a final agreement to end the conflict in Acheh. This follows the resumption of talks with the Government of Indonesia under the auspices of the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) of President Martti Ahtisaari in Helsinki. To achieve peace, GAM has agreed to the concept of self-government within the context of the Republic of Indonesia, and has done so since the second round of talks in March this year. But it categorically rejects the status quo of ‘special autonomy’, which has produced only bloodshed, corruption and the denial of the fundamental rights of the people of Acheh to determine their own affairs. GAM has issued this clarification following inaccurate reports that it has accepted this failed ‘special autonomy’. Speaking at Konigstedt, near Helsinki, GAM spokesman Mr Bakhtiar Abdullah said GAM had offered a major compromise by not bringing its claim for independence to the Helsinki negotiations. ‘But GAM does not accept the status quo of so-called ‘special autonomy’,’ Mr Bakhtiar Abdullah. ‘That is why we have offered the compromise position of self-government as a way of resolving the Aceh conflict.’ Mr Bakhtiar Abdullah said: ‘GAM has made many major compromises in its efforts to achieve peace in these talks. We now need to see a similar compromise by the Government of Indonesia in order to be able to reach a comprehensive and sustainable solution to the conflict in post-tsunami Acheh.’ Mr Bakhtiar Abdullah said that it was now essential for the Government of Indonesia to show sincerity in its desire for peace by also accepting self-government based on the elections contested by local political parties. ‘What we are proposing is nothing less than basic democratic rights,’ Mr Bakhtiar Abdullah said. ‘Under such principles enjoyed by people in democratic countries around the world, there can be no restrictions on who can form a political party, where they can form it, or how many members it must have in order to exist.’ ‘GAM understands and embraces a genuine democratic outcome for the people of Acheh,’ he said. ‘We now call on the Government of Indonesia to continue its own process of political reform and also embrace true democracy as a means of ending the Acheh conflict and to allow reconstruction of our devastated homeland to progress.’ Helsinki, 12 July 2005 Signed, Mr Bakhtiar Abdullah, Contact: +46-706993982, or +358-(0)408116678 |
