Indonesia hails foreign observers in Aceh election

Indonesia welcomes the presence of foreign observers to monitor the first-direct poll on Dec. 11 in Aceh province, Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said in Jakarta Tuesday.

Minister Wirajuda told reporters here that foreign observers from European Union, which has long experience in such work, and other countries have registered to the Indonesian foreign ministry office.

"Indonesia sees the presence of foreign monitors is important to jointly ensure that the election is conducted democratically and transparently," said Wirajuda.

"We will be open, there will be no any single thing that we will hide," he stressed.

Similarly, Indonesia facilitated over 600 foreign observers in the first direct presidential election in 2004, said Wirajuda.

Canada and Japan might also take part in monitoring the election, he said.

The December's poll will also choose 19 regents and mayors, Indonesian Information Minister Sofyan Djalil said.

Besides observers, the presence of the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM), which is to terminate its mission in Aceh on Dec. 15, would also contribute to the encouragement of the election to be fair and transparent, said Wirajuda.

"The presence of the AMM helps implement one of the important elements of the peace deal on Aceh on August 15 in Helsinki, Finland," he said.

Aceh is going to start a two-week campaign for the election on Nov. 24, according to the Indonesian Minister of Information Sofyan Djalil.

Former rebels and generals are among the scores of nominees of governor and mayors in the northern tip of Indonesia's Sumatra island, he said.

Indonesian parliament endorsed a land mark law for Aceh province in July, paving the way for the provincial election and giving the province greater autonomy and control over most of its oil and natural gas, which is in line with the peace accord in Helsinki.

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

The peace pact was the result of months of talks spurred by the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that left over 150,000 dead or missing.

Aceh province has spent 7 billion U.S. dollars on reconstruction and rehabilitation after the tsunami.

Source: Xinhua