From insurgency to bureaucracy: Free Aceh Movement, Aceh Party and the new face of conflict

The settling of the 32-year conflict in Aceh, Indonesia, not only transformed former members of the Free Aceh Movement into administrators, constructing a new circle of elites, but also created new spaces for economic and socio-political competition. This transformation sowed the seeds of an emerging conflict in Aceh. This study investigates the emerging conflict patterns along with their causes and the actors involved. Three patterns of conflict have emerged during the post-Helsinki Peace Agreement period: (i) a conflict among the former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) elites, (ii) a conflict between the former GAM elites and the former GAM rank-and-file combatants, and (iii) a conflict between the ethnic Acehnese majority and the diverse ethnic minority groups. While the first and second conflicts are primarily induced by individual self-interest, the third is specifically triggered by social and political discrimination as well as by under-development