"Elections will be after (the) new (autonomy) law. If the new law is passed in parliament in February or March, it means we need two months, (so) May or June," Kalla told reporters during a visit to Finland, where he met with Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen.

Under the peace accord signed in Helsinki on August 15 between Jakarta and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels, a new law which grants wide-ranging autonomy to resource-rich Aceh must be passed by the end of March.

The draft law has been heavily criticised by nationalists who fear similar calls for autonomy will spread through the Indonesian archipelago.

Kalla said he hoped to convince a majority of parliamentary deputies to vote in favour of the law.

"This draft will be in parliament within one month and we hope we will agree on a situation according to what was agreed in the memorandum of understanding," he said.

The Aceh peace deal was signed after the province was devastated by the December 26, 2004 tsunami, which killed an estimated 168,000 Acehnese and forced both sides to take stock of their priorities.

Major reconstruction efforts are underway in the province and an international observer mission supervised by the European Union may be extended.

Vanhanen said he supported such an extension.

Kalla is scheduled to meet Saturday with two GAM members who live in Sweden in exile, Malik Mahmoud and Zaini Abdullah, as well as former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari who oversaw last year's peace talks.

"We are surprised by each other," Kalla said of developments in the province.

"We are suprised that the conflict has finished so rapidly, and the (GAM) decommissioning, and (we are) surprised at how the (government) army has pulled back," he added.

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