By Nick Nugent
BBC NewsAugust 20, 2001
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Aceh has become the litmus test of success in both governing Indonesia and in keeping this vast country united. President Megawati's predecessor, Abdurrahman Wahid, made it his top priority to solve the separatist violence that has brought about the deaths of at least 6,000 people over 12 years.
He promised greater autonomy for the province and said the province could keep a greater share of its oil and gas wealth. He also initiated talks with the separatist Gerkan Aceh Medeka (GAM) or Free Aceh Movement. Several rounds of talks have taken place in Geneva.
Armed intervention
However, he is also reported to have sanctioned army operations earlier this year aimed at wiping out GAM on the ground, a move said to have been supported at the time by then Vice President Megawati.
There has certainly been no reduction of violence in the province with around 1,000 people killed since the start of this year.
President Megawati has similarly made Aceh a top priority. Since taking office last month, she has met senior provincial leaders, signed into law a provision granting Aceh an unprecedented level of financial and political autonomy and announced her intention to visit the northern Sumatran province early next month.
Her most dramatic gesture came in the presidential speech to mark Indonesia's 56th anniversary of independence from the Dutch on Friday. She apologised for past government "mismanagement, for prolonged conflicts and abuse of human rights" in both Aceh and the other troubled province of Irian Jaya.
Violence in the Acehnese capital following the speech suggests it has done little to appease militants separatists, who claim to have most of the Acehnese people behind them.
Autonomy hopes
President Megawati hopes the autonomy law, which will be implemented gradually over several years, may help solve the separatist problem.
The new law:
This may seem generous given that the province's gas exports alone are reported to have provided 30% of the central government's revenue in 2000.
Violence
Closure of the gas facility for three months this year because of separatist violence is said to have cost the government and the Exxon Mobil subsidiary that runs it around $350m.
However, it will not have escaped the notice of Acehnese separatists that East Timor, which seceded from Indonesia in 1999, is to receive 90% of revenue deriving from the oil and gas fields in the Timor Gap.
The provision comes under the terms of a deal brokered by the UN authority now administering East Timor.
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