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Indonesia Aceh
Aceh is the westernmost part of Sumatra and the part of
Indonesia where the Islamic character of the population is
the
most pronounced. The Acehnese demand for autonomy,
expressed in
support for the 1950s Darul Islam rebellion, was partially
met by
the central government's acceptance of a "special region"
status
for the province in 1959, allowing a higher-than-usual
official
Indonesian respect for Islamic law and custom
(see
The National Revolution, 1945-49
, ch. 1). This special region status,
together
with growing prosperity, brought Aceh into the Indonesian
mainstream. This change was reflected in the growing
support
among Acehnese for the central government, as indicated by
votes
for Golkar in national elections. In 1971, Golkar won 49
percent
of the region's vote; in 1977, 41 percent; and in 1982, 37
percent. By 1987, however, with 51.8 percent of the vote,
Golkar
obtained its first majority, increasing it in 1992 to 57
percent.
Nevertheless, during the early 1990s, the idea of an
independent
Islamic state was kept alive by the Free Aceh (Aceh
Merdeka)
movement, known to the central government as the Aceh
Security
Disturbance Movement (GPK). Thought to have been crushed
in the
mid-1970s, the guerrilla campaign of the insurgents, under
the
leadership of European-based Hasan di Tiro and with Libyan
support, renewed its hit-and-run warfare in the late
1980s,
hoping to build on economic and social grievances as well
as on
Islamism. ABRI reacted with crushing force and, as it
sought to
root out the separatists, civil-military relations were
imperiled. But moderately pro-Golkar 1992 election results
suggested there was no widespread alienation in Aceh.
Data as of November 1992
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