In Aceh, for example, people often reminisce: at one point in time, peace is a failure. For three decades, politics in the province was driven by outrage. Weapons take out words. On behalf of justice, a concept of Indonesia was challenged by the Aceh Freedom Movement (GAM). “Indonesia,“ said Hasan Tiro, the leader of the movement, “is not more than a colonial concept invented by the Dutch and is then resumed by Javanese imperialists,”
Hasan Tiro had great passion in giving rise to the old sovereignty: a glorious Aceh, just like during the era of Iskandar Muda sultanate. Certainly, as we all know, the New Order regime crushed the dream. When the regime was brought down by the reform, the new ruler still could not stop the war in the area.
Therefore, in Aceh, people also recall Jusuf Kalla. On August 15, 2005, as the temperature in Helsinki dropped to below zero, he defrosted an issue that had been frozen between Aceh and Jakarta: Trust. Kalla was not there when the peace treaty was signed by both parties. He, together with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, witnessed the historical moment from Jakarta.
Was the reconciliation possible without Kalla? He is a trader who runs politics as frisky as he works with trading formula. “Negotiations are about offer,“ Kalla said one day when he started to work on Aceh. “If you can’t get one with the price of ten, you can ask for fifteen with the price of 2,” Kalla, in many ways possible, is a pragmatist.
But, as we could see, the trading approach is most of the time not flawless.
Two months before the Tsunami hit Aceh in December 2004, Kalla had actually taken the steps to gain reconciliation. At that time, he was just inaugurated as the Vice President and was convinced that he would be able to settle the conflicts in Aceh, just like he did in Ambon and Poso.
Kalla later assigned the task to Hamid Awaluddin, his confidant who was newly appointed the Minister of Justice and Human Rights. The plan was top-secret: persuading GAM commanders. “Don’t let the press know,“ Kalla reminded.
The leaders of the movement, who were in Sweden, were ignored for a moment. Probably, in this strategy, they were not really important. To Hamid, those who were at war and suffered were those who were living in Aceh. What they needed was a respected high commander. He had to be negotiable as well.
Hamid’s attempt was not really successful. It even turned out to be funny.
Once, the respected contact was made. A proposal had been prepared. There were also concession agreements on palm oil plantation, abundant electricity, special aircrafts and a world’s class airport for Aceh. The proposal also included the signatures of several government officials including Hamid. Across the table, there were two GAM negotiators: M Daud Syah and Harun Yusuf.
Daud was said to be Hasan Tiro’s loyal follower and was influential in Malaysia. Like Daud, in Malaysia, Harun was known as the “Chevrotain”. However, Daud failed in convincing Muzakkir Manaf. “Please address political affairs to Sweden,“ Muzakkir said. Harun was directly pushed away. “They are not our negotiators,“ M Nur Djuli, GAM’s official negotiator, said.
In Malaysia, Harun was more popular as herbal trader. He, apparently, was not an influential combatant.
But, Kalla never gave up. He then turned to the opposite way. Hamid was sent to Europe and the Netherland until finally a delegation was assigned to Sweden. Eventually, there was some hope. Hasan Tiro, through GAM Prime Minister Malik Mahmud agreed to hold a dialogue if there was one mediating country. It was not easy for Kalla. Yudhoyono’s administration would be squashed by the opposition for putting GAM under the world’s political spotlight.
The matter was how to keep a world-class dialogue going.
One day in January 2005, former Finland President, Martti Ahtisaari, received a call from a friend of him, the chief editor of a reputable newspaper in Helsinki. To Martti, the friend said there was a message from Indonesia, asking Martti to be a mediator. Martti, as he told me later, was in the first place reluctant. He was working on some peace efforts in Africa and Eastern Europe. Indonesia, probably, was way too far.
In the end, Martti nodded to the request, considering Aceh was one of the areas destroyed by the Tsunami and put the whole world in grief. The chief editor was Juha Christensen, a Finland citizen who was also an expert in pharmacy. Juha speaks fluent Makassar language. He is the colleague of Farid Hussein, one of Kalla’s men who joined the reconciliation team in Jakarta.
We all know how the story went. Kalla’s men ingratiated GAM’s leaders in Sweden. The negotiation began and was led by Martti. It was tough at first, but Kalla always came up with solutions. When deadlock was about to emerge, Kalla made a quick decision.
One of Kalla’s men testified: One time Hamid was overwhelmed by the numerous conditions proposed by GAM at the negotiation in Helsinki. He later called Kalla in Jakarta. “Have you ever proposed credit at the bank? Did you read all of the terms?” Kalla asked. Just like business, to Kalla, credit terms are not something crucial. Most importantly, the money can be cashed and the business can run. “Hamid, the most important thing is that they agree to be part of Indonesia. Other issues don’t really matter,“ Kalla said. Then, the dialogue proceeded.
Pragmatism, in certain extent, is sometimes vital. Kalla has proven it. As acknowledged by M Nur Djuli, the former Vice President played an important role every time the negotiations met a dead end. For example, on Aceh local party, “Kalla gave the green light. Local parties are allowed to be set up,“ Djuli said.
Since then, Kalla was trusted by GAM leaders in Sweden. He was agile. Kalla figured the group’s thoughts and feelings out. “I read almost every Hasan Tiro’s book,“ Kalla said one time at the Vice President’s office. He believes that dialogues are possible only if both parties know and respect each other. He often joked during the meeting with Malik Mahmud’s group that it was the meeting of GAM. “Gabungan Aceh Makassar (Aceh-Makassar Group)”, Kalla said.
The Helsinki agreement was completed in seven months. Not only did Kalla boost Indonesia’s reputation, he also set an example for other Southeast Asian countries. To Aceh, who has been devastated by war, peace may be an invention. They will always recollect Kalla: a leader who believes that peace is not nonsense.
kompas.com
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