Aceh talks deadlock on elections

Aceh's negotiators are standing firm on political representation

Peace talks between Acehnese rebels and the Indonesian government appear to be deadlocked over the issue of political representation.

The rebels, from the Free Aceh Movement (Gam), have rejected a proposal that would allow them to field candidates within existing political parties.

Instead Gam is continuing its demand to form its own local political party.

The issue is set to dominate Friday's meeting between the two sides, brokered by Finnish mediators in Helsinki.

The talks - now in their fifth round - were first initiated in the wake of December's tsunami that killed at least 120,000 people in Aceh.

A previous peace deal broke down in May 2003 amid bitter recriminations. About 15,000 people have died in the three decades-old conflict.

Reports after Thursday's meeting suggested the two sides might be close to an agreement.

ACEH: ESSENTIAL FACTS Located on the northern tip of Sumatra island Population of 4.3m people Rich fuel resources, including oil and natural gas Gam rebels have been fighting for an independent state

Indonesian Justice Minister Hamid Awaluddin said his government had proposed that Gam be allowed to field candidates for office in the region, under the umbrella of other parties.

"The proposal that we indicated to them is that we have the commitment of 10 political parties in Indonesia to be available to nominate any Gam candidate in the upcoming elections," Mr Alawuddin is quoted as saying.

Baktiar Abdullah initially responded positively, telling the Associated Press on Thursday night: "We are very near an agreement... Now it is up to us to study it before we respond on Friday."

But after looking carefully at the proposal, Mr Abdullah sounded a lot less optimistic on Friday.

"The answer to the problem of political parties for Aceh is not for the government of Indonesia to offer Gam a sweetheart deal that excludes the possibility of other political parties," he said.

Gradual progress

Over the past four rounds of talks, the two sides appear to have made progress on many of the broad issues at stake.

Gam has agreed to some form of self-government within Indonesia, rather than to push for full independence.

In return, Aceh is likely to be offered a far greater share of revenues from its rich natural resources, including oil and gas.

But significant hurdles still need to be overcome, and the question of political representation is a key sticking point.

Under current legislation, every political party in Indonesia must have representation in at least half of the country's 33 provinces, and have its headquarters in Jakarta.

Indonesian officials fear any exception to that rule could spark further attempts at secession from Jakarta, analysts say.