The 2014 legislative election results, however, show that its popularity is waning, almost certainly because its elected officials have performed poorly. One question hanging in the air is whether voting them out of power altogether in a future election could jeopardize the peace.

The April 9 polls were the second legislative contest for Partai Aceh. During the 2009 elections, it rolled to victory with numbers only imaginable after a period of prolonged conflict when a population is finally allowed to express support for its fighters at the ballot box. In several districts, the party won more than 70 percent of the vote. It ended up winning 33 of the 69 seats in the provincial legislature, and through alliances controlled nine more. Partai Aceh did even better in the races for district council seats along the province’s populous east coast, where many of its sympathizers had already been elected as district chiefs.