The Province of Aceh, known formally as Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD), is on the northern tip of Sumatera. Aceh is surrounded by a crucial trade route, the Malacca Strait, to the north and east, the Province of North Sumatera in the south, and Indian Ocean in the west. The province covers an area of 57,365 km2 and has a population of approximately 4 million. At present, Aceh consists of 18 municipalities (kabupaten) and 5 cities (kota). Banda Aceh is the capital.
Islam came to Aceh as early as the ninth century and has remained the dominant religion. The population is 98.7 percent Muslim (BPS 2002). Indonesia’s first Islamic kingdoms were powerful Acehnese trading states. By the 1300s, the great kingdom of Samudra, located near present-day Lhokseumawe, was renowned as a center for trade and Islamic study. Aceh’s stature as a center of Islamic learning led to its nickname, the Veranda of Mecca. Syariah has been used as the basis of law for kingdoms in Aceh and is implemented in Aceh’s administration system.
The Kingdom of Aceh was founded in the early sixteenth century and rose to prominence after the 1511 conquest of Malacca by the Portuguese. The kingdom’s golden age came in the early seventeenth century under Sultan Iskandar Mudah, who made Aceh one of the most important military and trading powers in the region. By 1820, Aceh supplied half the world’s pepper. A powerful and wealthy kingdom, it maintained relations with foreign powers including the Ottoman Empire, France, Great Britain, and the United States. When the Dutch appended Aceh in 1874, the Acehnese started a guerilla war that continued until 1912.
Left unoccupied after World War II, Aceh played a pivotal role supplying funds to the republican government of Indonesia during the struggle for independence. In recognition of its contributions to the Indonesian independence struggle, Aceh was made an autonomous region in 1949. Turbulence followed for the remainder of the Soekarno regime. In 1950 the newly autonomous region was incorporated in the province of North Sumatera leading to the first Acehnese rebellion. Led by Daud Beureueh, the rebellion resulted in Aceh’s reinstatement as a province (1957) and autonomous region status in 1959. Greater autonomy, however, did not protect Aceh from the severe economic hardship experienced during the last years of Soekarno’s rule.
Under the New Order, conditions in Aceh did not improve. The obvious richness of the province’s natural resources on the one hand and persistent poverty on the other hand exacerbated the population’s feelings of unequal treatment by the central government. The government did not address the prolonged social and economic imbalances, and another rebellion/separatist movement known as the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) started in 1976 under the leadership of Hasan Tiro. This struggle between the Government and GAM continued until 2005.
Partially in response to these developments, in addition to nationwide decentralization, Aceh was granted Special Autonomy status under Law 18/2001. This law seeks to address crucial issues relating to inequality and the poor economic situation in Aceh and to offer Aceh greater autonomy in managing its resources and governance functions. The three key features of Aceh’s special autonomy are:
Large share of retained revenue from oil and gas
Direct election of governor and head of local government (Bupati / Walikota)
Implementation of Syariah / (Sharia) Islamic law
The 2005 Helsinki memorandum of understanding ended this 30-year conflict. It offers great opportunity for Acehnese to improve their communities’ economic performance, attain better living standards, and move toward a good governance system. The central government agreed to provide Aceh with a larger share of revenue from natural resources and special allocation from the General Allocation Fund. Law 11/2006 implementing these provisions was passed in August 2006.
Also as part of the accord, the Government agreed to facilitate the establishment of Aceh-based political parties and in December 2006 Aceh held its first democratic elections. Irwandi Yusuf, a former GAM member and peace-negotiator was elected as Governor and inaugurated in February 2007.
