Indonesia's Aceh to start elections in November

Candidates for the leaders of Indonesia's Aceh province will start a campaign on Nov. 24 for their nomination at the first-direct gubernatorial election on Dec. 11, Indonesian Home Affairs Minister Mohammad Ma'aruf said Wednesday.

"The election will be on Dec. 11, and the campaign will last for 14 days," he said.

Indonesian parliament endorsed a land mark law for Aceh province in July to pave the way for the provincial election and give the province greater autonomy and control over most of its oil and natural gas.

The Indonesian government and the separatist Free Aceh Movement reached an agreement in Helsinki, Finland, in August 2005 to end the three-decade long bloody conflict that killed over 15,000 people, most of them civilians.

Under the August 2005 peace agreement, the Indonesian government withdrew more than 23,000 troops from the province and agreed to give it limited self-government and 70 percent of the revenues from its natural reserves.

Among the candidates of the leaders in the northern tip of Indonesia's Sumatra island are former rebel members, including G Irwandi Yusuf, the representatives of the former insurgent in the Aceh Monitoring Mission.

Source: Xinhua