Since he took over last year, Mr Wahid, a respected Muslim scholar, has been following the same strategy but on a grander scale, offering as many concessions as he can in an effort to boost Acehnese support for autonomy within Indonesia, as opposed to independence.
The worry is that things might get far worse in two years, when most of the international aid pledged after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami dries up.Although a superficial calm reigns and most Acehnese are delighted to be able to walk the streets at night in reasonable safety, recent weeks have seen a wave of worrying incidents.
Many of its employees are not Acehnese and many of the workers building new homes come from other parts of Indonesia.Aceh's foreign aid will more or less run out in 2009.
Following Indonesia's independence in 1947, and during the dictatorial rule of former president Suharto in particular, the central government relied on force to keep the restive Acehnese in check.
But before that can happen, the government will have to calculate what kind of self-rule it can offer Aceh, and whether this would differ from the autonomy options being considered for other provinces.It must also decide which Acehnese leaders will be able to sell a compromise to the people.
That operation earned the security forces the hatred of many Acehnese.
Even though they hate the armed forces more than the guerrillas, the vast majority of Acehnese wish both sides would stop shooting.By appealing to the war-weary majority, Mr Wahid hopes to strike a deal on autonomy.
Mistrust of Indonesia's men in uniform is the main reason that so many Acehnese believe that only independence can bring them security.Mr Wahid remains optimistic, but he continues to make three big mistakes.
For that reason alone, insists Steve Daly, a spokesman for the HDC, 99.9% of Acehnese support the peace effort.So what accounts for the demonstrations?
"A dialogue would have been an opportunity for us to express what we want, which would have been good for us as Acehnese people, and it would also have been good for the president".Political observers in the province also expressed their dismay that Mr Wahid had concentrated so much on economic issues rather than the violence itself and the issues behind it, especially as the killings continue.
The loss of Aceh's natural wealth would certainly be a major blow to the capital, Jakarta, which sits on the populous but resource-barren island of Java.Those leading the call for a referendum, however, are mostly younger Acehnese who have no memory of Indonesia's 1945-49 war of independence against the Dutch.
