In tsunami's wake, a peaceful Aceh holds first election

Voters in the battle-scarred Indonesian province of Aceh go to the polls Monday, nearly two years after a devastating tsunami scoured its coastline and released an outpouring of international aid for the stricken survivors.

The ballot is the first since the signing in August 2005 of a landmark peace accord between the Indonesian government and armed rebels, who agreed to lay down their weapons in return for political autonomy for Aceh. Former rebels are competing in electoral races for the governorship and 19 district mayors and regents.

The presence of such figures on the ballot, and their public campaign to get elected, is a remarkable turnaround for Aceh, where the struggle for power has long been equated with fear, intimidation, and bloodshed. A trouble-free vote, and the acceptance of the outcome, would be an important step forward in the peace process after three decades of conflict and false starts.

"If we have the right leader, the peace will continue, I'm sure of that. Aceh can be prosperous and peaceful," says Ramli bin Buhari, a businessman from Pidie.

A high turnout is expected among the 2.6 million eligible voters, including hundreds of thousands of left homeless after the tsunami. Thousands of election monitors, including a European Union team, will be deployed at polling booths, which close mid-afternoon. Early results from poll samples are expected by early evening.

Under the peace accord, the rebel Free Aceh Movement, known by the Indonesian acronym GAM, agreed to disarm and demobilize 3,000 combatants, in exchange for a withdrawal of around 25,000 Indonesian soldiers and paramilitary police who were widely accused of human-rights abuses. The accord also called for local elections to be held in 2006, setting the stage for GAM to enter the political process.

But a major rift between exiled GAM leaders and a new generation of fighters and activists has prevented the movement from fielding a united candidate. Instead, two competing tickets for governor are claiming to represent GAM, which has opted to remain neutral after initially endorsing one candidate. By splitting their support base, say observers, the result could be that neither wins the governorship.

Tensions between the two camps spilled over on the eve of the two-week campaign when a gang of thugs assaulted Humam Hamid, one of the gubernatorial candidates, in a stronghold of Irwandi Yusuf, a young fighter and ex-political prisoner who heads the rival pro-GAM ticket. But conciliatory rhetoric from senior leaders in the movement, who insisted on neutrality between the two camps, helped to tamp down tensions, and the campaign has been smooth, with only minor reports of intimidation.

Analysts say this internal friction will complicate GAM's goal of dissolving its military command and transforming into a political party capable of ruling Aceh via the ballot box. "GAM never had a strong political wing. It was overwhelmingly a military operation," says Sidney Jones of the International Crisis Group in Jakarta.

Sharia law, which Aceh implemented in 2000, has also emerged as a backdrop to the elections as enforcement has been stepped up in recent years, including patrols by special "morality police" that report directly to the governor's office. While candidates have made almost no mention of the traditional Islamic law, the new policing force is a bone of contention among ordinary Achenese.

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