[Marxism] EAST TIMOR Background documents and contacts

["Chris Warren" <cwarren@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

EAST TIMOR INFORMATION SHEET 1ST JUNE 2006


About East Timor Political Process

* Each political party elects its leaders representatives;
* The people vote for a party, not a personality;
* The Parliament is made up of 74 members and 14 district representatives;
* The percentage of votes a party receives in the general election
determines the number of members it has in the Parliament;
* For the district representation it goes on a 'first party past the post'
basis;
* Once elected a party announces its ministerial cabinet;
* The cabinet must gain a majority of votes in Parliament to enact its
platform, laws and rules;
* The Fretlin Party won the election in August 2001 with a majority of 54%
against 14 other parties;
* The next general election is in 2007 and Fretlin is confident it will gain
government again;
* In 2005 Fretlin won the local elections (sucos) by 65%
* The election for the presidency is separate and is very much a personality
contest;
* The presidency is mainly symbolic - the President selects the judiciary
and diplomats from government recommendations and is the commander-in-chief
of the army.

About Fretlin

Fretlin has always been a party of the broad Left. Initially some of its
members were communists. Most were hunted down and killed by the Indonesians
due to their convictions.

Fretlin is the only political party which has a structure supported by the
grassroots and enough educated personnel to lead East Timor into the future.
It has a strong bond with the people in the villages since it sent its
educated members as volunteers to teach literacy, agriculture and health
through hygiene throughout the country in 1974/75 and thereafter as fighters
in the war of liberation.

The Fretlin Congress is made of delegates elected at the village level. It
elects its presidency, secretariat and Central Committee.

The Past

A rift has developed between Xanana Gusmao, Jose Ramos Horta and Fretlin not
long after these two individuals left the party in 1987.  Fretlin had
devised a front of Maubere liberation it called CNRM which would separate
the political (Fretlin) from the fighters who eventually became known as the
Falantil Forces with Xanana as their leader. This move was designed to
undermine Indonesia?s explanations of the human rights abuses as fighting
communism. In the 1990?s Jose Ramos Horta has denigrated publicly the
sacrifice of the communist members of Fretlin.  During the 24 years of
fighting, the insurgency was directed solely by the Fretlin Presidential
Council which was made up of 5 leaders.  Lu?olo being the last of these is
now the Speaker of the East Timorese Parliament.

Mari Alkatiri (Prime Minister) together with Ana Passoa (Attorney General)
spent their exile in Portugal where they studied Law and in Mozambique where
they worked relentlessly for Fretlin, they wrote its Constitution, and a
Magna Carta which was accepted by the UN. In 1998 legitimising the
insurgency under the name of CNRT. No Magna Carta, no international
legitimacy, no freedom. yet for the Australian media there are only two
players in East Timorese resistance, especially after his arrest. Jose Ramos
Horta (Foreign Minister), Nobel Prize winner, as the East Timorese on the
outside.

The Present

It is beyond doubt that the military forces in East Timor were not well
managed despite the officers being hand picked by the President Xanana
Gusmao and trained by the Australian armed forces. Back in 1999 the UN was
advised not to institute an armed force in East Timor because it was too
costly yet at the insistence of Xanana Gusmao, Sergio de Mello relented.
Being a token army and Xanana?s pride and joy, the Alkatiri Government did
not interfere into its conduct and acquiesced to its requests. This was a
mistake because it became rudderless, so much so that last year Lieutenant
Gastao Salsinha was caught on the West Timor border using army trucks and
equipment to smuggle sandalwood, a protected specie in East Timor due to it
over exploitation during Indonesian times.

The government could not prosecute him as he was in the Army and the
punishment from his superiors was to deny him any further promotion and
leave for special training in the US.  From this Lt Salsinha convinced his
subordinates that it was all a conspiracy from the commanders who hail from
the east of the country to humiliate the soldiers from the west. There must
have been dissatisfaction in the ranks because 593 of his colleagues went on
strike with him.

Over a period of three months Brigadier General Taur Matan Ruak made
repeated demands for the men to return to their barracks, but to no avail.
He consulted with President who at the time was out of the country and then
sacked the deserters. This is where the story gets a bit tricky because on
his return Xanana Gusmao gave  conflicting statements. First he fully
supported his commander and the dismissal but went on to change that
statement and claimed the soldiers had been treated wrongly. This fuelled
the fire of discontent among the deserters who then went on to march through
Dili for four days demanding the government reinstated them. On the second
day of protest April 26, the Prime Minster Mari Alkatiri, the Foreign
Minister Jose Ramos Horta and the Bishop of Dili Alberto Ricardo da Silva
met with Lt Salsinha and some of his men.

After this meeting it was announced that a commission would be put together
to look into the grievances of the soldiers. On April 28 the last day of
protest, after the marching was done, a mob of disgruntled youths goaded by
opposition parties went on a rampage through the centre of town, and as the
police was being overwhelmed it started shooting in the crowd resulting in 5
rioters dying of their wounds.

The Commission was sworn in on May 5 and was composed of 2 members nominated
by the President, 2 members nominated by the Parliament, 2 members nominated
by the Government, 1 member nominated by the Catholic Church and 2
consultative members, one from Associacao HAK a human rights NGO, and the
other from the Judicial System Monitoring Program.  It was never given the
opportunity to deliberate as the deserters resorted to fight it out with the
Government. Major Alfreido Reinado who deserted along with some members of
the Dili Police over the shooting in the crowd incident, was in Australia
for training as recently as late last year.  He swears his allegiance to the
President and has stated that he no longer wanted to serve the Government
because Mari Alkatiri is a Communist.  Unfortunately for Major Reinado, he
will have to take responsibility for starting the hostilities after he and
his men broke a promise to Jose Ramos Horta and left their cantonment near
Ailieu to take up a position on the hills overlooking Dili which were being
patrolled by the Army loyal to the Government.

This was an attempted coup by the right-wing and it has failed. Not
surprisingly the Australian media is asking for Mari Alkatiri to resign or
be sacked by the President along with his democratically elected Government.
This is wishful thinking on their part because the Alkatiri Government is
united and outside of Dili the country has continued to run normally. Xanana
Gusmao could not run a bath let alone a government and his nation knows
that.

Viva Fretlin!

Robert Peters

Friends of East Timor

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REPUBLICA DEMOCRATICA DE TIMOR-LESTE
GABINETE DO PRIMEIRO-MINISTRO

STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER

1. Australian and Malaysian military have since yesterday being patrolling
the security perimeter. This area of intervention of the international
forces has been defined by the Government in coordination with the President
of the Republic and is being operationalised by the commands of Timor-Leste
Defence Force and the
Australian and Malaysian Defence Force.

Quiet obviously, the decision to request international support was deeply
analysed and it was essentially based on the unequivocal will of the
Government to put an end on the wave of violence, thereby avoiding further
bloodshed.

It is obvious that, first and foremost, we hope that this intervention puts
an end to the
violence that we have been going through over the last days. This will take
its time. The foreign military and police have just arrived and are now
trying to control Dili - a city that they are not familiar with as yet.

I nevertheless believe that from the moment the Timorese start feeling the
constant presence of these men and women, the levels of trust will increase,
thereby enabling a gradual return to normalcy, which is essential to
preserve both the rule of law and goods of the population in general.

Contrary to what may seem to some people and interests, a considerable part
of the violence that occurred in the capital of Timor-Leste over the last
hours, is no longer linked to a very serious problem that translated into
confrontations between our Defence Force and a few members of the Police. It
is rather violence stemming from the planned and opportunistic action of
gangs, who have looting and burning houses and goods, and threatening our
martyrised people.

The international forces have been receiving instructions from the
Government to put an end to such incidents. We hope that very soon it can be
said that they are already controlling the situation, thereby revealing
effectiveness in their operations.

At no time has the Government ceased to work. Even this morning, under my
leadership the Council of Ministers met. We made an update of the situation.
And we have approved some important decisions to ensure the coordination of
the authorities of Timor-Leste with the international forces.


2. We are now being accused of not being able to govern. However, I recall
here that the policies outlined and implement by the Government I am proud
to lead has been receiving unsuspected commends from the international
community as a whole. Let me single out, as an example, the sincere applause
made last month in this same
room by the President of the World Bank, Mr Paul Wolfowitz, vis-a-vis the
policies of this Government. Mr Wolfowitz repeated this applause last May
25.Does this mean that, in only one month time, we have ceased to be an
exemplary case of success, and are now a case of a clear incapacity? Let the
things be clear: we have some faults in all this process, namely in the
difficulty to solve in due time any injustices that may have possibly
existed within FDTL. But I can assure that the Government will assume its
responsibilities. I hope that the other sovereign institutions will do the
same.

I, the Prime Minister of Timor-Leste, do maintain my previous statements.
What is in motion is an attempt to stage a coup d'etat. However, I am
confident that the President of the Republic, with whom I have been keeping
permanent contacts will not cease to respect the Constitution of the
Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste which he swore to comply with. And he
will never forget the interests of the People of Timor-Leste for which all
of us fought to 24 years nor the thousands of brothers who gave their lives.

Dili, May 27, 2006

Prime Minister
Mari Alkatiri

For further informations please contact the Media Advisor:
Rui Flores (tel. +670 723 01 40 or rui.flores@xxxxxxxxx)

John M. Miller Internet: fbp@xxxxxxx

National Coordinator
East Timor & Indonesia Action Network:

48 Duffield St., Brooklyn, NY 11201 USA
Phone: (718)596-7668 Fax: (718)222-4097
Mobile phone: (917)690-4391
Web site: http://www.etan.org

***********************************************

SEARCH FOUNDATION


STAND UP FOR EAST TIMORESE SELF-DETERMINATION

East Timor faces great threats to its independence and future economic and
social development. Meeting these threats will require the maximum unity
within its political and social leadership, including especially the
democratically elected government and its four key figures (Prime Minister
Alkatiri; President Gusmao; Parliamentary President Lu?Olo; and Foreign
Minister Ramos Horta) the progressive elements of the Catholic Church, and
the leaders and rank and file of the internal security forces.

The current chaos and violence have a variety of sources, including perhaps
mistakes by, and a lack of a clear united position with, the government as
well as both planned and opportunistic violent actions by various
discontented groups ranging from those who are frustrated at poverty and
unemployment to criminal elements to those who now appear to have a
political agenda to undermine, dictate to, or remove the
democratically-elected Fretilin government.

Australia must stand clearly for the right of the East Timorese people to
determine their own future, in, including the right of the
democratically-elected government to govern. While welcoming and supporting
the potential positive role of the Australian army and forces from other
countries in the current situation, Australians should insist that the
Australian Government?s policy is guided by that fundamental principle.

This principle means accepting the right of the East Timorese to make their
own policies, decision and mistakes free from external dictates or
destabilisation by anti-democratic internal forces. This includes their
right to make their own economic policy without pressure from the
International Monetary Fund or World Bank.

SEARCH itself recognises and respects these rights of the East Timorese but
at the same time fervently hopes that the East Timorese progressive
political and social forces will work together and will recognise the need
for unity to deal with the major challenges that face them.


SEARCH Foundation
Rm 610, 3 Smail St, BROADWAY NSW 2007
Australia
Ph: 02 9211 4164; Fax: 02 9211 1407
ABN 63 050 096 976
promoting democracy, social justice and environmental sustainability

***********************************************

EAST TIMOR STUDY GROUP

This is a discussion compiled by the Grupu Estudu Maubere on Fretilin and
the policies of the current Government of Timor-Leste. This document was put
together on the eve of Fretilin's national congress. It is open for
discussion and any comments or ideas are welcomed. Note that Grupu Estudu
Maubere is not an organisation of, affiliated to or associated with
Fretilin.

Grupu Estudu Maubere:

A People's State Against A Capitalist's State

When the occupiers left Timor-Leste after having been defeated in the 1999
referendum, the people of Timor-Leste entered a transitional phase to set up
the independent state of Timor-Leste through the auspices of the UN. The
transition period in Timor-Leste marked the first ever in history of UN's
direct involvement in the governance of country.

In carrying out its mandate as government, the UN handed the World Bank the
job of managing Timor-Leste's reconstruction and development effort by
administering the funds donated by UN member states. In October 1999 the
World Bank established the Joint Assessment Mission to formulate a basic
plan for Timor-Leste's reconstruction. The results of the assessment became
the guide to the reconstruction of Timor-Leste. In carrying out the
reconstruction program and establishing Timor-Leste's institutions, the
leaders of the organisations which fought for independence under the CNRT
were distanced and their only role became consultative.

Even after sovereignty was handed over in May 2002, the UN and the World
Bank continued to hold on to this role. The involvement of the UN member
states continued to grow through their advisors positioned within important
government institutions as well as through various programs that they
presided directly such as agricultural rehabilitation, education and others.
These programs were run by experts from their respective countries based on
existing schemes and not based on adequate scientific studies of East
Timorese conditions and capacity. The developed countries which dominate the
UN and the World Bank are of the opinion that for underdeveloped countries
like Timor-Leste, the economy must be handed totally to the private sector
for them to develop. The role of the state is limited to assisting the
private sector's development. If a state is active in the economic sector,
it would be accused of meddling and endangering these countries' economic
development.

The government of the independent state of RDTL through the leadership of
Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri has strived to turn Timor-Leste into a country
truly independent by making its decisions based on the people's interest.

Opposing Privatisation

The government is not quick to accept programs introduced by international
institutions, for example on the development of electrical energy. The World
Bank, through the Asian Development Bank (ADB) wanted to channel funds but
only under the condition that within 15 years, the electrical energy
production ought to be privatised. The government rejected this initiative
after taking into account the experiences from other poor countries where
after having privatised their electricity energy production, electricity
became accessible only to the rich. Electrical energy became a commodity
which can be marketed to profit electrical companies without considering
that the little people also also have a right to electricity for light.
Thanks to the refusal to accept World Bank's proposals, today we still face
problems relating to electricity services. However the government is close
to success because in 2007, electrical energy development will start in
order to respond the community's needs.

In the area of transport the Government wants to establish a public
transport company so that the remote sucos can communicate with the city to
meet their needs, such as marketing their agricultural products. But the
World Bank is against this idea. Right now the government wants to set up a
state company which will employ the small fishermen as the majority (share
holders). Once again the World Bank is against this idea. The government
hasn't been able to establish this venture because there isn't enough fund
for it. When the revenue from the Timor Sea is adequate, there will be a
better chance of establishing these state ventures which has the mission of
supporting progress in people's life.

State Petroleum Company and Petroleum Fund

At the moment the government is undertaking plans to set up a state owned
oil company. The aim of setting up this company is to make sure that all
income from the oil and gas resources is spent towards the people. As part
of this the government is studying other state owned oil companies such as
that of Malaysia and other countries. The plan to set up this state owned
company has been rejected by Timor-Leste businessmen (some of whom are
members of Fretilin). These businessmen are cooperating with foreign
businesses to compete in gaining access to the oil and gas revenues. In
their opinion, the rights to manage these resources should be given to
private companies arguing that these companies can manage the resources more
efficiently and will benefit the government in terms of taxes and royalties.
According to them a state owned company will not be as advantageous because
government officials will embezzle the revenues through corruption. This is
the same line of argument put forward by the World Bank in defence of
privatisation.

It is true that in many countries state owned companies never benefited the
people because of massive corruption perpetrated by government officials.
But this has occurred because these countries are ruled by authoritarian
regimes. Government activities, including that of the state owned company,
are never kept in check by the people. A way of preventing corruption inside
the state owned company is through a direct people's control, through their
representatives elected through democratic elections such as members of
parliament. The Prime Minister understands this issue. That is why the
revenues from oil and gas from Timor Sea are kept in the Petroleum Fund
which can only be withdrawn by the National Parliament.

The Petroleum Fund is a financial management system drawn by Timor-Leste to
manage its oil and gas resources in the Timor Sea. At the moment the revenue
is being invested in the United States in form of US government bonds. The
account is held in the name of Banking and Payment Authority (BPA) and is
kept at the Federal Reserve of the United States. For the funds to be
withdrawn, it must get the approval from the National Parliament together
with a declaration from independent auditors on the revenues from the oil
resources. This process is further controlled by a consultative councill
called the Petroleum Consultative Councill to be made up by representatives
of the National Parliament, non government organisations, religious
institutions and the private sector. In the future this institution will
also include former presidents of the republic, former speakers of the
parliament, former prime ministers, former ministers of finances and former
directors of BPA. The method of keeping the revenues at the Federal Reserve
and their withdrawal ensures transparency and prevents corruption similar to
other oil rich countries.

With respect to the use of revenues from the Petroleum Fund, Mari Alkatiri's
political line is very clear and it concerns investments in the public
sectors which benefit the people, such as free education, free health
services, establishing state owned companies and undertaking new partnership
programs with non government organisations.

The revenues generated from oil and gas are the main income for Timor-Leste
as well as being the main capital for Timor-Leste's independence. These
revenues, which will continue to grow, will empower the government to carry
out programs that will benefit the Maubere People. Timor-Leste is following
the path taken by Venezuela with regards to the use of oil revenues to
empower the people. In Venezuela, the government led by president Hugo
Chavez uses the revenues to eradicate illiteracy, provide health services to
the people, develop agricultural and industrial cooperatives, as well as
assisting people of other countries in the health sector.

The revenues generated by the oil fields can also become a focal point of
internal conflict. Some groups want the revenues used to develop the private
sector. Perhaps this issue can become the basis for major contests inside
the Fretilin Congress.

Against borrowing

Although there is not enough money to fund development, the Government of
Mari Alkatiri has decided against borrowing from the World Bank. In fact the
World Bank is inclined to make Timor-Leste a country with debt. This is due
to the lessons Prime Minister Alkatiri learnt from other underdeveloped
nations where the debts from the World Bank only benefited a small elite. In
time, it will be left to the majority of those people to pay off the debts.
Furthermore, countries which borrow money will loose their political
independence as their political economy will be dictated by the World Bank.
Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri and President Xanana Gusm?o have rejected this
option for Timor-Leste, an option which would only serve the current short
term benefit of the elite at the expense of the future generations.

Health and Education

The Government of Mari Alkatiri recognises that development requires a
healthy and educated population. Because of this the government gives
priority to education and health. This is in line with the International
Convention for Social, Economic and Cultural Rights which RDTL has signed,
to which the United States, dubbed as the pioneer of human rights, has yet
to ratify until today. We must be proud that as a new nation and poor, in
just four years we are able to provide health and education services free of
charge. Without these free services in health and education, only those with
the means will be healthy and will be able to provide education for their
children. Those without the means will continue to live with diseases and
ignorance.

In providing free health services with a good quality, the government has
cooperated with the Cuban government, whose country has high health
standards and is well known throughout the world. The World Bank also
recognises the quality of health and education of Cuba which is comparable
to industrialised countries like the Scandinavians, although Cuba is itself
underdeveloped. Cuba has sent many volunteer doctors to assist in the
provision of health in many remote sucos. They earn a monthly allowance of
US$200. This earning is only a fraction compared to the "salaries" of
doctors from other countries who are contracted to work in Timor-Leste for
salaries of more than US$3000.

The Government of Timor-Leste sends hundreds of students to Cuba to study
medicine. According to government plans, by 2015 Timor-Leste should be able
to provide a doctor for every thousand members of the community. This doctor
to population ratio will be higher than that of the United States (1 to
1400). The cooperation with Cuba is advantageous to Timor-Leste because the
students' scholarships are funded by the Cuban government. The Timor-Leste
government only provided funds to buy their return tickets to Cuba. This
program indicates that the Department of Health has adequate plans for the
health system and knows how to prepare the human resources for it.

The Government is also undertaking programs to improve mother and infant
nutritions. Timor-Leste is known as a nation with high mother and infant
mortality rate. This program is aimed at reducing the number of mother and
infant mortality rate. It has just started in the districts of Liqui a and
Suai in cooperation of WFP and Oxfam Australia. It has been achieving some
good results because since it improved the nutrition intake for the
participating mother and infant.

Unfortunately in the area of education plans are not yet available for
schools, from primary education to university. It is notable however, that
non formal vocational education programs provided by the governments of
Portugal and Brazil only prepares the participants to market their skills to
companies. It does not prepare them to become independent and become a
valuable member of the society.

There are a lot of criticism directed towards the area of education and
health. This is to be expected as not everything that is good for the people
is tolerated by the elite class. Those who reject free education argue that
this method will bring down the quality of schools and students will be less
responsible for their education. This line of thinking is inaccurate. In
Germany, education services from primary to tertiary are provided for free
by the state. But Germany is also know for its high quality education system
which attracts many students from countries all over the world to study from
technology to philosophy and the arts.

Agriculture

In developing the agricultural sector, the government is trying to improve
infrastructures such as irrigation and roads. However there are no
discussions at the moment on how to organise communities to improve their
production. Perhaps this has to do with the small government budget
resulting from World Bank policies. An example of this is pasture. The
government is not offering to provide free training for the people.
According to plans, the World Bank will set up and organisation to train
participants to become future trainers. The graduates will deliver these
services to the people but at a fee. This clearly shows the World Bank's
preference towards privatisation. Essentially the government should provide
the services in this area so that it can be accessible to everyone.
Otherwise only those with the resources will be able to access it. These
measures also occur in other aspects of agriculture.

State: the instrument for the people's liberation vs the instrument to beef
up the capitalists

These programs demonstrate that Mari Alkatiri's Government is fighting to
make the state of independent Timor-Leste an instrument which serves the
people and not the elite class. In the meantime the elite class is making a
lot of profit through businesses in cooperation with foreign entrepreneurs,
which want the state to become an instrument to serve the interests of the
industrialists. They want the government to make an economic policy which
can deliver opportunities to them. These objectives compelled them to become
involved in political parties in order to define the policies of the state
in line with their interests.

The businesses which are involved in this way are parasites. They turn the
state into an instrument to exploit a country's resources as well as the
people. Much like what has been happening at the moment, the exploitation of
these resources is not used to develop activities that will benefit the
people. It is used instead to serve for their own pleasures. They will not
develop the economy of Timor-Leste because they don't have any long term
economic plan. They only want to profit in the short term to support their
lifestyle of excess and luxury.

They want Timor-Leste to give more priority to the private sector in its
economic policies through the "neoliberal" multilateral financial
institutions such as the World Bank and other developed nations currently
running programs in Timor-Leste. They are of the opinion that a nation's
progress can only be achieved when the running of the economy is handed
totally to the private sector with the state's only role being that of
supporting the private sector. If Timor-Leste economy is completely
dominated by the private sector, the people of Timor-Leste will descend into
a life of poverty and suffering in every aspect. But these won't be the only
consequence, a new minority group will also emerge that will become richer
and richer by day while the majority of the Timor-Leste people live in
extreme poverty forever.

Mari Alkatiri's policies still remain true to the real objectives of
Fretilin in setting the state as the instrument to free the people from
oppression, exploitation, ignorance and disease. These objectives are
similar to the ones set out in the first Constitution drafted in 1975: "to
dismantle the colonial structures in order to establish a new society free
from domination and exploitation" (article 2, RDTL Constitution of 1975).

Right now there is a major clash between opposing ideals about an
independent Timor-Leste: a state which serves the people versus a state
which serves the interests of the business groups. This competition occurs
in different sections, including within the government as well as inside
Fretilin party itself. Our role in these debates is to make sure that the
ideals of national liberation prevail by fighting for a State which belongs
to the people, a people that dreamed of liberation of the Maubere People.

Farol, 16 May 2006.

Translated unofficially by Alex Tilman from Tetum original. All errors are
of translator's responsibility.

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1 June 2006
The Age (Melbourne)

STAND UP, THE REAL MR ALKATIRI
By Helen Hill

The Australian Government and media have demonised East Timor's PM
without knowing all the facts, writes Helen Hill.
**
Ever since the August 2001 elections for the Constituent Assembly in
East Timor - when the longest-standing party of resistance, Fretilin,
won a convincing 57 per cent of the vote against 14 other parties - I
have observed among Australian embassy employees in Dili, and most
Australian journalists who write about Timor, a readiness to criticise
Mari Alkatiri, East Timor's Prime Minister, on grounds that show they
barely know anything about him.

The Bulletin and The Australian regularly recommend his overthrow. The
week before the Fretilin congress in Dili, the ABC joined them as
regular Alkatiri critics. Jim Middleton on the ABC's evening news
wondered "what would happen if Alkatiri decides to resist" calls for his
resignation, and uncritically put to air claims from a sacked Fretilin
central committee member alleging that 80 per cent of the central
committee was against the Prime Minister. A week later, after further
violent episodes in Dili, we saw Maxine McKew on Lateline trying to put
words into the mouths of MPs Malcolm Turnbull and Peter Garrett:
"Wouldn't you say there's not much support for Alkatiri?" How could they
possibly know, if all they saw were the Australian media?

Who is Mari Alkatiri and why does he arouse such hostility from
Australian politicians and media presenters? While Alkatiri was being
told by Australians he should resign, he was also taking phone calls
from the Portuguese and other prime ministers, wishing him well and
urging him not to.

With Jose Ramos Horta, Alkatiri helped found Fretilin when, back in the
early 1970s, it took the form of a clandestine group of young people
meeting under the nose of the Portuguese colonialists in front of the
building where he now has his office. On the eve of the full-scale
Indonesian invasion, Alkatiri, who had already graduated as a surveyor
in Angola, was sent with Ramos Horta and Rogerio Lobato to put Timor's
case at the United Nations. His exile lasted 24 years, but it was
productively used; he studied law and economics at Eduardo Mondlane
University in Mozambique, with South African exiles and others
struggling for freedom. Mozambique had offered scholarships to any
Timorese students who could qualify for admission, and it was this
group, who worked in many professions on graduating and gained a great
deal of experience in economic development, who now form the backbone of
the public service. In Mozambique, Alkatiri learnt a great deal about
international organisations and how to avoid falling into some of the
traps Mozambique had encountered. His negotiating skills that the
Australian Government finds so fearsome were gained during this period.
Every year he was with Ramos Horta at the UN General Assembly for the
debate on East Timor. In 1998 it was Alkatiri who did most of the
thinking that led the multi-party National Council for Timorese
Resistance to adopt its "Magna Carta", linking Timor's future policies
with the best standards in international practice coming from the UN's
conferences on human rights, environment, population, women and social
development during the 1990s.

Detractors frequently allege that Alkatiri's presence in Mozambique for
24 years means he is some sort of unreconstructed Marxist. In reality,
he is an economic nationalist with a strong awareness of environmental
issues and woman's issues; he regularly speaks out on violence against
women. He has spoken against privatisation of electricity and managed to
get a "single desk" pharmaceutical store, despite initial opposition
from the World Bank. He hopes a state-owned petroleum company assisted
by China, Malaysia and Brazil will enable Timor to benefit more from its
own oil and gas in addition to the revenue it will raise from the area
shared with Australia. At the Fretilin congress, he announced
initiatives for scrapping school fees in primary school and introducing
state-funded meals in all schools.

There is widespread support in Timor for Alkatiri's decision not to take
loans from the World Bank, although it gave Timor a few years of
extremely low salaries in the public service. The Cuban doctors invited
by Alkatiri to serve in rural areas are also very popular, as is the new
medical school they are establishing at the national university.
The young intellectuals at the university and the leadership of many
Timorese non-government organisations praise Alkatiri's economic
knowledge and his ability to defend Timor's interests against the likes
of the World Bank and the Australian Government (over the Timor Sea
issue), while being disappointed with slow progress on educational
reform and development of the co-operative sector.

His major errors of judgement include a draconian defamation law, which
has drawn the ire of much of Timor's media, and his tardiness in
intervening on the sacking of the dissident soldiers, in which he has
supported decisions made by army commander Taur Matan Ruak.
Another frequent accusation is that Alkatiri is "arrogant", and, while
this might be the case, he has increased massively the public
consultations held over the last year. Under East Timor's
semi-presidential constitution, the president is popularly elected while
ministers are appointed by the party with the majority in the
Parliament. Alkatiri has sacked some ministers for poor performance, and
some of them provided support for his challenger at the Fretilin
congress.

In a rather bizarre twist, one of Alkatiri's unashamed supporters during
this crisis has been the World Bank, whose director wrote last week that
"Timor-Leste has achieved much thanks to the country's sensible
leadership and sound decision-making which have helped put in place the
building blocks for a stable peace and a growing economy".



Helen Hill teaches sociology at Victoria University and is author of
Stirrings of Nationalism in East Timor: Fretilin 1974-78.

****************************************************



PERSONAL VIEW

[Letter to 'The Age' newspaper, Melbourne]

As an observer in Dili at the time of the 1999 referendum I am sure that
today Australia's troops will be welcomed in East Timor because of the
professionalism they and our police displayed at that time.

Australian support then occurred because the Australian people demanded
action against the reluctance of our politicians. Since that time the Howard
Government has until recently obstructed East Timor on oil and gas revenues
because the policies of PM Mari Alkitiri and the elected Fretilin Government
demanded a fair share.

This has come too late to prevent unrest it seems, and undoubtedly there are
internal conflicts and mistakes. One could compare the histories of England,
Ireland and Scotland on these scores, remembering that East Timor was locked
in poverty and ignorance for 500 years by Portugese colonialism.

I can't help but wonder whether the open hostility to Alkitiri displayed by
some Ministers and the Australian media is based on his refusal to do as
Australia demands. Has that hostility encouraged the instability in East
Timor in recent times and even encouraged the rebel soldiers whose leader
apparently believed Australian mentors would back them against their
"communist" government? Just what did John Howard discuss with George Bush
about East Timor?

I have every confidence that our soldiers and police will succeed in
restoring order and that East Timor will recover, providing our political
leaders keep their Cold War mentality in check.



Rob Durbridge

SEARCH Foundation
Rm 610, 3 Smail St, BROADWAY NSW 2007
Australia
Ph: 02 9211 4164; Fax: 02 9211 1407

*******************************************



Distributed by Progressive Labour Party:  www.progressivelabour.org




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