An Important day in the history of Aceh- The new Governor was sworn in yesterday after more than 30 years of insurgency.
Irwandi Yusuf, 46 years old, was a former separatist leader himself. He was arrested in 2003 and was sentenced to 9 years of prison. But he escaped from the jail when Tsunami struck his prison in 2004.
Muhammad Nazar, a former student activist was also sworn in as vice governor.
It is amazing to see the sequence of events which lead to the present situation. Irwandi joined GAM (The Free Aceh Movement) 16 years ago, and have started providing leadership to the insurgency in Aceh. The Indonesian Government was able to finally arrest him in 2003 and sent him to Jail. But the mighty 2004 Tsunami struck his prison, and he was able to flee abroad. When the elections were announced, he contested as an Independent candidate against 7 other mighty politicians and former military officers. He won with 38% votes which sent shock waves across Indonesia.
The city was quiet, most of the shops are closed in Banda Aceh. We have received notice from the security department not to go for field visits, and restrict the movements between office and home. 150,000 people are expected to attend the cermony, while 40 cows are slaughtered for them.
The office of the Governor was beautifully decorated for the ceremony. When I asked some local people, they are skeptical of how the new Governor is going to rule. One person said- If they are going to follow their earlier principles, we will just migrate from Aceh.
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