Asia Times: Territory frets about independence vote



	March 16, 1999	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

Territory frets about independence vote
By Kafil Yamin

DILI - Indonesians are caught up inelection fever as the June election nears, but the East Timoreseare fretting about a different type of balloting: a vote forautonomy or independence.

So here in the East Timorese capital, there is no sign of the colorful war of flagsand banners of rival parties seen elsewhere across the archipelago inpreparation for the June general poll.

There are no vehicle convoys led by political partisans or massgatherings among the 48 parties contesting seats in theconsultative assembly.

In short, this island on Indonesia's eastern end seems totallyexcluded from election activism peaking elsewhere in the run-up tothe country's first multi-party polls in four decades.

''We have no business with Indonesia's election,''Domingus Soares, field commander of Concelho NacionalResistencia de Timorese(CNRT), the Timorese national resistancemovement, said in an interview.

''We are concentrating more on how to turn the new agreementinto reality,'' said Soares, referring to last week's landmarkUnited Nations-brokered agreement between Indonesia and Portugalon the holding of balloting on East Timor's fate.

Under a ''direct ballot'' for East Timor, a former Portuguesecolony, the Timorese will decide whether or not they accept the so-called ''unlimited autonomy'' proposed by Indonesia, which wouldallow election of their own representatives.

If rejected, the Indonesian government says it will let EastTimor become independent.

Jakarta is adamant in not calling this balloting, which iswidely expected to be held by August, a referendum. It saysholding one would spark more violence and would be costly.

So, the direct vote will be held under UN auspices but withoutthe other official trappings of a referendum. Still, analysts saya referendum is essentially what the vote will amount to.

Jailed East Timor resistance leader Jose Alexandre XananaGusmao has hailed Indonesia's stance, saying the country ''took animportant step'' with the accord on a vote.

But exiled East Timor leader and Nobel laureate Jose RamosHorta shrugged it off, saying Jakarta should first prove itstrustworthiness. ''I judge them [Indonesian officials] on theiractions on the ground and not their promises. Their actions speakmuch louder,'' he said.

There are some 600,000 eligible voters in East Timor, which hasa population of 800,000. Up to 30,000 East Timorese reside inAustralia, Canada, Macau, Portugal and the United States.

Many Timorese here can accept the agreement on certainconditions, viewing this as a step forward in the decades-longstalemate on the status of their homeland.

To many, it also offers respite from the uncertainty today thathas led to violence between groups supportive of and opposed toindependence, and triggered an exodus of residents - with harmfuleffects on the economy and social services.

Residents here say the realization of the direct ballot shouldbe subject to tight monitoring, given the Indonesian government'spast record in restricting demands for democracy.

''Actually we want a referendum. But we can accept such a[direct ballot] on condition that it is tightly monitored.I think the presence of international monitoring institutions willbe good,'' said Licinio Branco, a student at East TimorUniversity.

''We are concerned more with this ballot, not the [national]election,'' he said.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian government has decided that EastTimor, which it considers the country's 27th province, is includedin the June election despite the new agreement.

''As long as the final result is not there, East Timor remainspart of Indonesia,'' said Home Minister Syarwan Hamid.

Many Timorese actually prefer that the autonomy vote be heldbefore the rest of Indonesia goes to the polls in June. ''It isfair that when Indonesians have a new government, we here have ourown,'' said another student.

So far, it is also not immediately clear whether the Indonesianmilitary will withdraw its troops from the territory, a move manyTimorese would like to see.

''People here are scared of the military. They will not feelfree to choose during the ballot. From now on, we prefer not tosee Indonesian troops in this land,'' the student said.

There is little love here for the Indonesian military, aninstitution remembered for human rights abuses, killings andtorture since its soldiers invaded East Timor in 1975.

Ironically, as independence grows to be a real option, theterritory finds itself coping with renewed violence.

Reports say torture, rape and killing by military-linkedmilitia forces are on the rise, resulting in the exodus ofvillagers from one area to another.

Activists say that pro-integration militias, among them thosecalled Mahidi, Halilintar and Besi Merah Putih, are spreading fearin various villages of East Timor.

''They are well-armed. No single institution here can stoptheir action because the military are behind them,'' said Isabelada Costa Perreira, who chairs the Victims of Violence and MissingPersons (Kontras) of Dili office.

Factionalism has also prompted the exodus in waves of non-Timorese traders, teachers, doctors and medical people out of theenclave.

Every day in Dili harbour, huge ships come and go to carrythousands of people and their belongings to other islands ofIndonesia. ''There is no life here anymore. We will seek betterlife somewhere else,'' said a trader from South Sulawesi.

Marketplaces here are no longer as busy as before; some shopsare closed and prices of basic necessities are skyrocketing.

Perreira says the best way of building a sense of security andguaranteeing the smoothness of the planned ballot is to withdrawIndonesian troops from East Timor. Some units were pulled out lastyear.

The military should concentrate on escalating violence in itsown areas, like riot-torn Ambon and Aceh, instead of distributingarms to pro-integration civilians in East Timor, she suggests.

Reports quoted UN Secretary General Kofi Annan as saying theworld body would not require a complete pullout by Indonesiantroops, but wants them to ensure law and order ahead of a vote.

(Inter Press Service)

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