In August 2005, the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, GAM) signed a peace agreement in Helsinki, bringing to an end the separatist conflict which began in the province in 1976.

Date:  19 July 2007

The agreement opens the door to GAM’s participation in domestic elections in Indonesia , but this has sparked debate about the former combatants’ potential to establish a sustainable local party.

Previous attempts to achieve peace failed because Indonesia’s national political architecture provided few possibilities for a regional political force like GAM to participate in formal politics. Indonesian legislation allowed only “national parties” – i.e. those parties with active branch membership in at least half of Indonesia’s provinces and half of the districts within those provinces – to contest elections. As part of the peace talks in 2005, GAM negotiators demanded that these political arrangements be revised to allow the organization to contest local elections. For its part, GAM agreed to abandon its independence goal and give up its arms.

After positive returns in the 2006 local executive elections, where GAM members ran as independent candidates, GAM will position itself to contest Indonesia’s 2009 national legislative elections. If it can overcome emergent internal divisions it is likely to secure a substantial local vote in 2009. The potential for another strong GAM result in 2009 has placed increased pressure on the established national parties to make inroads to Aceh through the creation of local party branches and to seek alliances with GAM factions in preparation for the polls, scheduled to take place in just under two years' time.