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Timorese statement on Indonesian elections

Source
Ramos Horta Statement - 29 May, 1997

For the sixth time in 27 years, the Suharto regime of Indonesia has stage-managed a mock election aimed at legitimizing itself primarily in international eves. For the people of Indonesia these five yearly rituals have little meaning. They do not provide a possibility of orderly political change, despite the urgent need for an end to massive corruption, extreme inequalities in wealth distribution and human rights violations.

Anxious for an end to the worsening conditions in Indonesia and realizing their impotence to effect change through orderly political means. the people of this fourth most populous country in the world are openly venting their frustrations and anger. The response of the authorities is violence, which in this year's election has been higher than ever before. The official death count exceeds 250. The real toll is certain to be many times this number. This unacceptably high figure points to the underlying instability of Indonesia, and evidences the profound dissatisfaction of its people with three decades of authoritarian rule, The aging Suharto--after the fail of Mobutu of Zaire, now the longest surviving dictator of his type--appears insensitive to his people's just demands for change and democratic participation. Instead, he seeks public acceptance of the fraudulent results of this latest election farce.

However the level of popular dissatisfaction and dissidence in Indonesia makes it unlikely that the over 200 hundred million people of this important country will resign themselves to accept yet another five years of present conditions. A spiral of violence can be anticipated for Indonesia from now on. as dissent grows. It will be met with the customary repression by the military-backed regime, now increasingly desperate as its grip on power begins to slip, leading to an extended period of instability, disruption to peace and much human suffering. Even the survival of the Indonesian state may well be jeopardized, with consequent impact on the stability of the Southeast Asian region and beyond.

The brutal, two decade long occupation of East Timor by Indonesia provides a good example of the inflexibility and violence of the Suharto regime. Unable to respond positively to proposals for a peaceful end to the present quagmire, Suharto remains locked in a position that only leads to massive suffering for the people of East Timor, and a major drain on Indonesia. The regime is now also locking itself into a lose-lose situation in Indonesia itself. at a huge cost to the country's future. Its brightest intellectuals are being persecuted and its future leaders decimated, as political participation is inhibited and stifled amidst a growing climate of violence.

As an East Timorese and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, I find it my duty to appeal to President Suharto to acknowledge the realities of his country and annul the last parliamentary elections. On many occasions in the past our East Timorese leader, Xanana Gusmao, and myself have appealed to Mr. Suharto to show statesmanship and respect for the right of the people of East Timor to self-determination, ending the fruitless Indonesian policy of terror and repression in East Timor. We have repeatedly pointed out that such a policy. ignoring realities and just popular aspirations, would not resolve the problem Indonesia faces in East Timor. Events have proved us right. This time. with a similar situation in Indonesia itself, I call on President Suharto to speedily institute meaningful democratic reforms in his country and to allow the people to express their just aspirations for change freely end peacefully in a new internationally supervised election. All that is needed is an atmosphere of fair play, respect for existing constitutional provisions, and the absence of manipulations and distortions. This is probably Mr. Suharto's last opportunity to work towards a peaceful future for Indonesia.

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