(RTTNews) - Campaigning kicked for the December 11 poll on Friday in Indonesia's once rebellious Aceh province, with one candidate vowing to speed up rehabilitation of victims of the December 2004 tsunami. Next month's landmark elections, the first ever direct vote for top executive posts in the province is expected to prove to be another milestone towards ending a conflict that has killed 15,000 people since the Free Aceh Movement or GAM launched a struggle for an independent state on Sumatra island's northern tip in 1976.
GAM and the Indonesian government signed a truce in August 2005 under Finnish mediation, partly spurred by the Indian Ocean tsunami that left around 170,000 Acehnese dead or missing. The pact paved the way for former separatists' involvement in Aceh politics after they agreed to end their rebellion.
Previous polls in Aceh, including the 2004 Indonesian presidential and legislative elections were conducted under tight security and open campaigning was forbidden in many areas due to the insurgency.
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