The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Indonesia

Ten years after the dictator Suharto was toppled and democratisation began, Indonesia looks politically stable compared with its neighbours in Southeast Asia. It has not been able, however, to reduce the huge social inequalities and strengthen key institutions within the social infrastructure, such as employers' associations and trade unions. Although a movement to democracy was initiated in 1998, the armed forces, police and intelligence service were long seen as exerting power over a democracy inadequately protected by parliamentary scrutiny. Even today, the primacy of political process over the security forces is tenuous.

The peace process in Aceh remains a rare example of successful conflict resolution. The next elections to the regional parliament are due to be held in 2009, and the former guerrilla force, the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), intends to enter the contest with a party of its own. These may be the first truly free, democratic elections in Aceh.

The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung is supporting the relatively young process of democratisation in Indonesia. The focus is on establishing a socially more equitable and peaceful society. Little is known, for example, about the real causes underlying horizontal and vertical conflicts in Indonesia. Hence the work of the FES is designed to make local conflicts, at least, more transparent. In the field of security sector reform, the FES is primarily concerned to extend the primacy of political process step by step. In Aceh the FES has been assisting GAM's transformation from a guerrilla movement to a political party and helping to build local political parties as democratic players in the 2009 elections.