The Law on the Governing of Aceh (LoGA) has been submitted to the members of the House of Representatives or DPR (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat) on the 26 January 2006.

However, it was only on 22 February that the Special Committee (Panitia Khusus or Pansus) was formed and discussions on it begun.

The Plenary Session of the DPR then decided that a Special Committee consisting of 50 members of various commissions would discuss it instead of Commission II, which deals generally on internal affairs, as initially predicted.

The Process

The Law on the Governing of Aceh (LoGA) has been submitted to the members of the House of Representatives or DPR (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat) on the 26 January 2006.

However, it was only on 22 February that the Special Committee (Panitia Khusus or Pansus) was formed and discussions on it begun.

The Plenary Session of the DPR then decided that a Special Committee consisting of 50 members of various commissions would discuss it instead of Commission II, which deals generally on internal affairs, as initially predicted.

The leadership of the Pansus are as follows:

Chair: Ferry Mursyidan Baldan (Golkar Party)
Vice Chair: RK Sembiring Meliala (PDIP), Tgk. Yus (PPP), Joko Susilo (PAN), and Soekartono (Demokrat)

Pansus conducted hearings until 22 March 2006 and continued with the discussion on the articles.

They use the list of issues, which is termed as “DIM” or “Daftar Inventarisasi Masalah”, as their tool to discuss the Bill. All factions submitted the DIMs on 22 March 2006, two days shy before the recess period of the DPR. In total, there are 1446 DIM in 716 pages, though one has to bear in mind that “one DIM” means one row in the matrix and even the number of an article is counted as one DIM.

During the recess period, Pansus discussed the DIM according to the categories and procedures jointly agreed by the Pansus and the Government on 7 April 2006.

The discussion did not go as smoothly as many supporters of the peace process in Aceh had hoped. Some factions remain tight-lipped in their initial position to reject the ideas put forward in the Memorandum of Understanding in Helsinki.

During the DIM discussion, Pansus decided that issues would be brought to the next stage, which is called Working Committee (Panitia Kerja or Panja); or be agreed on so that it can be further finalised by the Drafting Team (Tim Perumus or Timus).

Panja consists of the half of the members of Pansus from all factions proportionally. Most of the decisions are made in Panja meetings and usually closed to the public.

JDA (Aceh Network for Democracy) is now advocating for open Panja sessions as many of the articles were not agreed and sent to Panja. There is already a precedent for this, namely the Panja of the Draft Law of Citizenship. Timus is a smaller team compared to Panja. Timus would only further draft the agreed provisions and make a coherent content of the Law.

Until now, there are only three out of 15 categories of issues discussed. The three are vertical agencies (TNI, POLRI, and Prosecutors Office), Social Lives (demography, welfare, education, and human resources), and Miscellaneous (conflict resolution, transitional provisions, and closing provisions). It was decided on the 27 April meeting that Pansus will continue the meeting until Wednesday (3 May) at the latest and continue further discussions in Panja.

What goes to PANJA?

• The title of the Law. PDI-P (Partai Demokratik Indonesia Perjuangan) wants “Pemerintahan Provinsi Daerah Istimewa Aceh”, while PBPD (Partai Bintang Pelopor Demokrasi) and PDS (Partai Damai Sejahtera) want “Pemerintahan Daerah Aceh”, and the other seven factions agree with the title given in the Government Draft (which is the same with the one from Aceh).
• The authority in Aceh and the Central Government. In section 3 of article 7 that basically says that the Central Government may add more authorities to itself as regulated by regulations.
• Cooperation with institutions and agencies. Aceh government may conduct cooperation with institutions or agencies abroad except the one that becomes the right of the Central Government and Aceh may participate directly in the international activities of arts, culture, and sports (article 9)
• Aceh’s right to establish Institutions, Agencies/ Commissions. Aceh is entitled to establish Institutions, Agencies/or Commissions based on this Law except the ones that become the authority of the Central Government (article 10)
• The responsibilities of the Governor (article 35 section 3)
• Aceh Government apparatus (articles 82-85)
• Some parts of Mahkamah Syar’iah (Syaria Court) and the implementation of Syariat Islam (Islamic Law), especially regarding the choice of law for non-Muslims
• Natural resources management
• Political participation: local political party, independent candidate, and details about the Independent Observation Committee or KIP (Komisi Independen Pemantau)
• The existence of Mukim and Gampong (legal community units unique to Aceh)
• Lembaga Wali Nanggroe (council of head of state)

What's next?

DPR resumed the session on Monday, 1 May 2006. Pansus will continue the Working Meeting with the Government within these two days. It is predicted that Panja will start the discussion by the end of the week. Some Pansus members said that the discussion will take place outside DPR building so as to have the members focus more to the discussion. If everything goes well, the substantive discussion could end by the end of May and due to the internal procedure in the DPR, the law could be passed by mid June 2006.

Lobbying and organising public pressure were the key activities during the past three months. JDA has been active in lobbying the Members of Parliament in coordination with the members of the House of Representatives or DPRD NAD (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Daerah Provinsi Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam). Rallies have been conducted mainly in Aceh.

For updated information regarding the legislative process, click www.parlemen.net , or go to:

Jakarta Secretariat: YAPPIKA: Jl. Pedati Raya No. 20, Jakarta Timur 13350. Tel. (021) 8191623, Fax. (021) 8500670, email: [email protected], website www.yappika.or.id

Aceh Secretariat: ACSTF: Jl. Tandi Lr. Kelayu No. 8, Neusu – Banda Aceh 23136. Tel. (0651) 23136, Fax. (0651) 23136, email: [email protected], website www.acstf.org