A new, openly dissident movement has sprung up within East Timor. If Manuel Carrascalao's Movement for Reconciliation and Unity of the People of Timor (GRPRTT) is as serious about its mission as it claims to be, it will represent a brave new initiative.

It comes from an unexpected corner. Manuel Carrascalao once actively supported East Timor's integration with Indonesia.

Carrascalao first announced his movement in a letter to the UN-sponsored All-Inclusive Intra-Timorese Dialogue in Austria last October. He launched it with fanfare at a UDT congress in Perth, Australia, early in December.

The movement's manifesto begins by recalling that the Portuguese law on decolonisation of 1974 envisaged self-determination for East Timor. But Indonesian military intervention prevented self-determination, it says. It then calls on all the East Timorese political parties to unite behind a program of peaceful negotiation to resolve the conflict over Timor's status.

Manuel Carrascalao, 65, comes from a wealthy mixed Portuguese-East Timorese family. All were members of the anti-communist UDT in the heady days of 1974 and '75. Manuel actually led UDT fighters backed by Indonesian soldiers (under Dading Kalbuadi) during the invasion between October and December 1975. He thought they were wresting East Timor from the hands of the 'communist' Fretilin, but found themselves used in a larger gameplan by the Indonesian military.

Manuel had been a member of the provincial assembly in Portuguese times. In 1982 he became a member of the same assembly under Indonesian rule, on the platform of the government party Golkar. 'I try to be a good Indonesian', he said. His younger brother Mario was the governor. Another brother, Joao, heads the UDT from exile in Sydney, Australia.

But for several years now Manuel Carrascalao has been outspoken on human rights abuse in the territory. For the foreign media he is probably the most sought-after person inside East Timor after Bishop Belo. He has mediated in clashes between the military and students on numerous occasions.

Late last year he fell out with Golkar and was not pre-selected for a fourth term in the provincial assembly. During the election campaign in May 1997 he said he ruled out voting for Golkar, because its candidates were 'hateful' to the East Timorese.

In May and July 1997 he backed a group within the provincial assembly led by Mrs Maria Quintao that strongly opposed the re-appointment of Abilio Soares as governor. That effort failed.

The movement's 30-odd board members include others like Manuel Carrascalao: ex-regents and other former government officials, who enjoy local respect.

Its general secretary Francisco Lopes de Carvalho was private secretary to governor Abilio Soares until he was sacked in March 1997 for (he says) refusing to play pro-integrationist charades demanded by Jakarta.

Mrs Maria Quintao, 46 and from another prominent family, holds the deputy chair.

Others such as Oscar Lucio Goncalves belong to traditional aristocratic families (liurai) who made up the small party Apodeti in 1974-75. Pro-Indonesian Apodeti members were initially prominent in the East Timor public service, but many were later replaced by better qualified Indonesians, and became embittered against integration.

How will his movement fare? Manuel Carrascalao no longer has an official position. Governor Abilio Soares is understandably furious. The local military commander has threatened to arrest Manuel Carrascalao and the others for being 'anti-Indonesian'. But the military will be reluctant to make martyrs out of these local prominents for fear of triggering unrest. The government will no doubt try to ignore these former officials and say they suffer from 'sour grapes'. But if Carrascalao sticks to his guns, ignoring them may not be easy.

It is not yet clear what Jose Ramos Horta or Xanana Gusmao think of Manuel Carrascalao's initiative. Carrascalao identifies with the UDT, and at its last congress the UDT did not speak kindly about the CNRM led by Horta and Xanana. In the past, Carrascalao has been critical of Horta. But he does support Horta's call for a ceasefire and for peaceful negotiations.

Unlike Horta, Manuel Carrascalao is inside and operating openly. The next few weeks will decide whether this is another splinter group, a manoeuvre by a man with something of a history of doing local deals with the military, or conversely a new movement that can rise above its origins to make a difference.

[Gerry van Klinken, editor, Inside Indonesia magazine]