Like a Rising Phoenix
When eighty percent of East Timorese voted for independence from Indonesia on 30 August 1999, many outsiders thought this could not be achieved: 850, 000 people living on half of an island, a thousand kilometers from nowhere. The humiliated Indonesian regime did its best to reverse the facts and directly and throughout supporting civilian militias, killed, burned, and looted all they could find on their way out gouging in the walls that 'A Free East Timor will eat stones'. But with at first the reluctant support of the international community and the United States, a Peace Force was sent to the location and the Indonesian Army withdrew from a ravaged territory, taking with it several thousand refugees.
By ARNALDO GONÇALVES
Now East Timor is a territory under the transitional administration of the United Nations, through UNTAET, and is taking its first steps to be a new nation, with a very low income: the World Bank estimated per capita GDP at $240, lower than the poorest African nations like Mozambique or Ethiopia.Remarkably, Xanana Gusmao, a former guerrilla leader and political prisoner has become the centre of attention, travelling first within the country, and then to neighbouring countries, propagating the vision that after all there is a future for East Timor. Gusmao is rapidly utilizing his authority as chief of the resistance to shape the new national ideal of a pro-Western and liberal society and he preaches reconciliation and tolerance to heal the wounds of the Indonesian occupation and the reign of terror of the militias. His ability to reach out to the people and bring them together is unmatched. Portugal and other Western observers see his role in the future of East Timor as crucial to maintaining a balance among the different sects of the guerrillas and the resistance, namely the National Council of Timorese Resistance (CNRT), a front group of several parties that campaigned for independence last year.
Gusmao now works in uneasy alliance with the UN, which has been criticized as hopelessly slow in delivering economic aid. Seven months after the burning of Dili, the capital, the majority of the buildings are still without roofs because there are no construction materials. The problems in starting the new country from scratch are tremendous: everything is up for grabs.
On the western side of the island refugees were kept on camps and blocked from returning home by militia commandos, supported by the Indonesian Army. The return of Timorese families to the eastern side has been slow, with outlaws demanding a payment of several hundred dollars to allow it.
But the single biggest issue will be the political transition at the moment the UN is legally the holder of East Timor's sovereignty. So far no date has been set for elections to the presidency, although Sergio de Mello chief of UNTAET (United Nations Transitional Authority to East Timor) has said he favours elections by the end of this year.
Xanana Gusmao does not seem to want to put himself forward as a candidate for the job, and does not seem to be attracted by power. But he has become an icon of a new freedom, bitterly won and still fragile and unsure. The Timorese have Gusmao in their hearts, in their souls, and they need him to keep their pulses beating strongly.
That is why the destiny of East Timor is deeply linked to the democratic process in Indonesia. President Abdurraham Wahid dismissed General Wiranto the former Ministry of Defence of President Habibie from the government. He has been accused by international public opinion and the East Timor resistance for being the man behind the militia reign of terror of late 1999. The Australian-UN forces captured military orders sent by Jakarta to the local commanders, instructing them to support militias and crush actions. The documents they found lend credence to the idea that the militia action was an army operation planned and programmed some time in advance by Indonesia. Wiranto is now having to answer to an Indonesian commission on these charges, but Human Rights activists are afraid that no prosecution will be brought against him because of his well-known connections with the Soeharto regime and with the Habibie transitional presidency. Corruption is a main concern in Indonesian politics and a stain on its hard transition to democracy. *
Arnaldo Gonçalves is Lecturer of International Politics in the International University of Lisbon and President of Luso-Asian Forum, a Portuguese think-tank on Asia.
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