Aceh National
Party Candidate Gunned Down in Latest Instance of Pre-Election Violence
By Nurdin Hasan, March 3, 2014.
Banda
Aceh.
An Aceh National Party (PNA) legislative candidate was shot and
killed late Sunday night in a hail of bullets — the latest attack on the
political party ahead of April’s general elections.
Unknown
gunmen opened fire on a car driven by PNA candidate Faisal on a secluded
road near Sawang, South Aceh, hitting his Honda Freed MPV with a barrage
of 42 assault rifle rounds.
He was found dead with gunshot wounds in his chest, stomach and back, South
Aceh Police chief Sigit Jatmiko told the Jakarta Globe.
“It’s
still unclear whether the victim was chased or blocked by the shooter,” Sigit
said. “We also haven’t figured out the number of perpetrators. The police are
still investigating the case.”
Police
declined to specify what type of guns were used in the attack, but said they
discovered 10 5.56mm shell casings at the scene — rounds used in assault rifles
worldwide.
The
politician was heading home when he was attacked by gunmen on an isolated stretch
of road through the hills between Labuhan Haji and Sawang. The gunmen
attacked at 9 p.m. local time, killing Faisal and fleeing the scene before
police arrived. There were no witnesses to the attack and the nearest village
was without power at the time of the shooting, Sigit said.
“The
motive remains unknown,” he said. “[We don't know] whether it was political or
about another problem.”
The
party’s chief Irwansyah said Faisal, the Sawang head of the party, had
been the subject of repeated threats by an undisclosed party. He urged police
to prevent additional killings in the lead-up to the legislative election.
“Looking
back at the previous violent attacks on our members, this shooting is
definitely has a political motive,” Irwansyah said.
It was
the second attack against PNA members in less than a month. On Feb. 6, the
party’s head in Kuta Makmur, North Aceh, was beaten to death in front of a crowd by two men
allegedly from the rival Aceh Party (PA). The men accused Juwaini of
removing a PA flag in Lamkuta village before immediately attacking him in
a savage beating outside a kiosk. A crowd watched the assault but said they were
too scared to intervene.
The
Aceh Party party members fled the scene, eluding capture. Juwaini was taken to
a nearby hospital, where he died shortly after admittance.
Aceh
Party chief Muzakir Manaf denied the party’s role in the attacks. The killing
remains unsolved.
The
killings began in late April with the death of PNA politician Muhammad bin
Zainal Abidin. Police found Muhammad shot to death on April 27 after
officers pulled his abandoned car out of a river in Pidie district. His
body was found in the back seat of his car. Muhammad had been shot twice
in the back of the head.
The
Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) called the
early signs of violence worrying, warning in a previous interview
that “there are symptoms that a string violence will appear again.”
Three
political parties are competing for votes in the upcoming election. The Aceh
Party — founded by ex-Free Aceh Movement (GAM) militants — has been at odds
with the PNA since it lost members to former Aceh governor Irwandi Yusuf’s
fledgling party in 2012. The Aceh Peace Party (PDA), founded by local clerics,
also entered the political spectrum in 2012.
The
resurgence of violence in the
lead-up to the general election is a worrying turn for Aceh.
The semi-autonomous province’s 2012 elections were marred by bloodshed as
then-governor Irwandi faced down Aceh Party’s Zaini Abdullah for the
contested governor’s seat. Both men used to be part of the province’s
GAM separatist forces — an armed group that engaged in a decades-long bloody
war for independence with the Indonesian Military that left more than 15,000
dead.
The
conflict was settled with a 2005 peace agreement that granted the province
special autonomy from the central government. But the ensuing elections, which
are largely fought by parties comprised of ex-GAM members, have repeatedly
turned violent. In 2012, at least nine people were killed in a wave of
pre-election violence, much of it allegedly centered on members of the rival
political parties.
Some Aceh Party members boycotted the 2012
registration process in protest of a decision allowing Irwandi, then an
independent candidate, to run in the election. The Aceh Party painted Irwandi
as a turncoat over his refusal to run with the GAM-affiliated party. The former
governor was then attacked by a mob of Aceh Party supporters while attending
the inauguration of Zaini in July of 2012.
In
total, the Aceh Elections Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) recorded 57
instances of violence in the run-up to the 2012 election.
[FYI the current governor, Zaini Abdullah, is Partai Aceh
(PA). The former governor, Irwandi Usuf,
had been a PA member but established the Aceh National Party (PNA) after
failing to win a second term as governor in 2012. Both parties are GAM (free Aceh Movement)
affiliated. I believe it’s time to do a
little pre-election primer for the next blog, so you can decide: are
ideological differences directing these pre-election activities . . . or is it
just plain business (and greed) as usual?]
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