Aceh prepares for landmark vote
Elections seen as key to cementing peace deal in troubled Indonesian province.
Published On 24 Nov 2006
Ahmad Humam Hamid said he and his campaign team were attacked by men claiming to be supporters of an official in the former secessionist Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
Hamid said the assailants burned campaign materials and vandalized vehicles used by his team.
Lasting peace
 |
| European Union election monitors are in Aceh to oversee the vote |
Nonetheless most observers predict the campaigns and elections will be mostly free from violence with a succesful vote seen as vital to ensuring a lasting peace in the province.
The European Union is sending an 80-member monitoring team to verify that the elections are fair and democratic.
Aceh has been left battered by decades of civil war and the Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004, which killed more than 130,000 people in the province.
The disaster helped spur a peace agreement between GAM and the government in Jakarta signed in December last year.
With more than 15,000 people killed in the secessionist conflict, both sides agreed they did not want to contribute to any more suffering.
Several former GAM rebels are standing as candidates in the elections.
The government has allowed them to participate in politics in exchange for giving up their arms and dropping their independence bid.
Aside from the governor and deputy, 19 regents and mayors across Aceh are up for election.
Source: News Agencies