President Abdurrahman Wahid of Indonesia, attempting to defuse growing separatist pressure in the province of Aceh, said yesterday the territory could be able to choose its own future in seven months.
But given widespread anxieties that a split from Indonesia would start a chain reaction destroying the nation's fragile unity, it was unclear whether the province would be allowed to vote for independence or simply for more control over its own affairs. The assembly speaker, Mr Amien Rais, has also said he backs a ballot but not now.
Meanwhile thousands of people in the province are not waiting for a vote and are already leaving, fearing unrest.
Mainly non-Acehnese are fleeing after rumours that Free Aceh guerrillas will start an offensive in early December if the government does not agree to an independence ballot, residents said.
Many Indonesians, still shocked by a vote for independence in the former Portuguese colony of East Timor on August 30th, hope Jakarta can appease separatist demands in Aceh without going as far as independence.
In Tokyo for talks with Indonesia's biggest aid donor after his election nearly a month ago, Mr Wahid said it was unclear if the Aceh ballot would be on autonomy or independence.
The chief armed forces spokesman, Maj Gen Sudrajat, said yesterday: "A referendum on autonomy is fine but a referendum on independence - no, because it will lead to a Balkanisation process."
"Yesterday, Timor; today Aceh; tomorrow Irian Jaya and the day after tomorrow Kalimantan," he said.