[1] Elected with 56% of the vote, Zaini Abdullah is the second governor directly chosen by the electors of Aceh since the granting of restricted autonomy to the area by the Indonesian government in 2005.

The pairing of Abdullah and Manaf as running mates for the 2012 elections was seen as a move to combine the older and younger generation of GAM activists.

[8] Various statements which both of them made during the 2012 gubernatorial election campaign suggest that they are not satisfied that the Indonesian Government in Jakarta has yet fulfilled the terms of the MOU.

He also said that he wished to see more attention given to the implementation of the provisions of the Helsinki MOU, signed in August 2005, which brought reconciliation in Aceh between the GAM and the Indonesian Government.

[10] The transformation of GAM from a guerrilla movement into an established and integrated part of the formal Acehnese political landscape has been accepted by the Indonesian Government in Jakarta.

Another difficult challenge will be to promote economic growth and development in the province which has been held back by local conflict stretching out over almost three decades from 1976 until the signing of a peace agreement in Helsinki in 2005.

[11] In early 2013 it was revealed that Abdullah, despite his earlier promise that he was in favour of preserving Aceh's eco bio-diversity, made a decision allowing for continuing deforestation.