Free Aceh Movement, Aceh Party and the New Face of Conflict Mohammad Hasan Ansori
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Stability: International Journal of Security & Development ISSN: 2165-2627 From Insurgency to Bureau- cracy: Free Aceh Movement, Aceh Party and the New Face of Conflict Mohammad Hasan Ansori Published: 1 November 2012 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/sta.ah How to cite: Ansori, M H 2012 From Insurgency to Bureaucracy: Free Aceh Movement, Aceh Party and the New Face of Conflict.Stability, 1(1): 31-44. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/sta.ah. About Stability: International Journal of Security & Development Stability publishes cutting-edge, peer-reviewed research related to security, conflict, crimi- nality, urban violence, governance, development, humanitarian action, peacekeeping, peacebuilding and a wide range of other topics in an open-access manner. In addition to full articles, Stability also publishes practice notes and commentaries from experienced poli- cymakers and practitioners involved in violence-affected environments. 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ARTICLE From Insurgency to Bureaucracy: Free Aceh Movement, Aceh Party and the New Face of Conflict Mohammad Hasan Ansori* The settling of the 32-year Aceh conflict not only transformed former members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) into administrators, constructing a new circle of elites, but also created opportunities and new spaces for economic and socio- political competition and contestation. Hence, this transformation sowed the seeds of an emerging conflict in Aceh. This study investigates the emerging conflict pat- terns along with their causes and the actors involved. Three patterns of conflict have emerged during the post-Helsinki Peace Agreement period: (i) a conflict among the former GAM elites, (ii) a conflict between the former GAM elites and the for- mer GAM rank-and-file combatants, and (iii) a conflict between the ethnic Acehnese majority and the diverse ethnic minority groups. While the first and second conflicts are primarily induced by individual self-interest, the third is specifically triggered by social and political discrimination as well as by under-development. Introduction in a large number of casualties, the dete- The story of Aceh is that of a human trag- rioration of infrastructure and psychological edy which unfolded over successive phases. harm. However, after a series of failed peace The Acehnese first fought against the Dutch efforts, the Government of Indonesia and colonialists (1873–1903) and then against the GAM made a historic and dignified step the central government after Indonesian by signing a peace agreement on 15 August independence. The battle against the Indo- 2005 in Helsinki, ending the violent conflict nesian state involved the Darul Islam rebel- after more than three decades. lion (1953–1962) as well as the Free Aceh The biggest challenge for the GAM in the Movement (1976–2005), which is commonly post-Helsinki period involved transforming referred to as the GAM.1 The conflict resulted itself from a rebel movement into a political party.2 Given that the Helsinki Peace Agree- ment required the GAM to disband itself, * Director of the Center for Strategic former GAM rebels turned their separatist Transformation in Indonesia; organization into a democratic and peace- Assistant Professor, Islamic State University ful one3 called the Aceh Party (Partai Aceh), of Jakarta, Ir. H. Djuanda Street, Ciputat, Banten, Indonesia which was later re-named the GAM Party [email protected] (Partai Gerakan Aceh Merdeka) and, finally, 32 Ansori / From Insurgency to Bureaucracy the Independent Aceh Movement Party (Par- process of establishing a sustainable peace tai Gerakan Aceh Mandiri).4 The party, which in the region. In this regards, this study ad- was founded in June 2007 in Banda Aceh, dresses the following questions: What are the the provincial capital, is largely administered general patterns of conflict appearing in the by the former leaders of the independence post-Helsinki period? What is the root cause movement. For instance, Muzakkir Manaf, of each pattern of the conflict? And who are the former supreme commander of the Aceh the actors involved in each conflict pattern? National Armed Forces (Tentara Nasioanl In responding to these questions, I first il- Aceh/TNA), the GAM’s military wing, was lustrate the historical dynamic of the GAM, elected as the chairman of the party after providing the background to the protracted serving as the province’s deputy governor. Aceh conflict. Then, I examine how the Gov- Allowing GAM members to compete for ernment of Indonesia and GAM success- political power in the province – fully in- fully reached a historic deal by signing the dependent of existing Indonesian political Helsinki Peace Agreement. Finally, I explore parties – was one of the vital parts of the the emerging patterns of conflict which peace deal. Hence, combatants re-invented emerged as former GAM rebels transformed themselves as politicians, administrators, themselves into bureaucrats. The data pre- businessmen and contractors.5 This transfor- sented here is primarily drawn from several mation was facilitated by the victories of key open-ended interviews with former GAM candidates affiliated with Aceh Party, Irwandi members, Acehnese scholars and ethnic and Yusuf and Muhammad Nazar, in the succes- religious leaders. sive 2006 and 2009 provincial election; oth- er candidates nominated by the Party were Free Aceh Movement: The Emer- selected as the mayors of Acehnese regen- gence, Leadership, and Revival cies, including Aceh Jaya, Sabang, Pidie, Pidie The GAM came into being in December Jaya, Bireun, North Aceh, Lhokseumawe, East 1976, following the issuance of its “Decla- Aceh, West Aceh, and South Aceh.6 In addi- ration of Independence of Aceh-Sumatra”. tion, the Party collected 33 seats (48%) out of The movement also became internationally the 69 available seats in the Aceh Parliament known as the ASNLF (Aceh Sumatra National (DPR Aceh).7 Liberation Front) or NLFAS (National Lib- Although peace has been attained and eration Front of Acheh-Sumatra). The GAM the Acehnese people have now returned to began when the movement’s “founding fa- a more normal life since the 2005 Helsinki ther”, Teungku Hasan di Tiro, declared Aceh’s Peace Agreement, levels of violence remain independence. Like other Acehnese people, high.8 Reaching the peace agreement did not Tiro was also a supporter of the Indonesian automatically cement the peace and elimi- nation and dreamed of an Indonesian fed- nate potential for further conflict. The tran- eration.9 Tiro moved to New York, where he sitional period in Aceh has produced a new worked part time at the Indonesian mission social arena for competition and created par- to the United Nations. However, he left his ticular patterns of conflict. post to support the Darul Islam rebellion in While a number of studies have been con- Aceh in 1953.10 He later served as an overseas ducted concerning the post-Helsinki peace- representative of the Islam-based rebellion.11 building process (e.g. Aguswandi 2008; Tiro’s active engagement in the Darul Islam Askandar 2007; Aspinall 2008, 2009; Barron rebellion had made him “become openly 2008; Feith 2007; Iyer & Mitchel 2007), less critical of Indonesia” and Indonesian forces, attention has been paid to the emerging con- which he later accused of genocide.12 flicts in the province. This article dissects those In addition to Tiro, the GAM’s leadership conflicts, which could seriously threaten the comprised relatively privileged elites, includ- Ansori / From Insurgency to Bureaucracy 33 ing Mukhtar J. Hasbi, Husaini M. Hasan, and rhetoric, methods, and strategy.21 GAM then Zaini Abdullah. The initial leadership of the experienced the first major revival by resur- movement mainly consisted of young profes- facing in 1989. sionals and intellectuals, such as doctors, en- The movement re-emerged with a greater gineers, politicians, and businessmen. Many number of better and more organized sol- of its followers had fought in the Darul Islam diers due to their military and ideological Rebellion (1953–1962).13 At the outset, the training in Libya, which started in 1986.22 movement was weak and small, probably in- Upon their return to Aceh, the trained volving no more than 200 active members fighters vigorously renewed their activities, moving around in the mountains of Aceh.14 trained local volunteers, and purchased bet- The declaration of Acehnese independence ter military equipment, reportedly with Lib- in 1976 probably involved only 24 leaders.15 yan assistance.23 With weapons purchased During this period, the GAM’s activities were from Indonesian soldiers or, later on, taken primarily concerned with producing and dis- off of captured troops, the “Libyan gradu- tributing pamphlets which outlined their ates” started a military campaign by attack- aims and ideals.16 Since its establishment, a ing isolated police and military posts, camps, large number of Acehnese people had been and installations. The attacks were often con- members of the Diaspora, or were refugees, ducted to capture weapons from the Indo- abroad and contributed to the GAM.