Sarah Stephen, Dili – May 19 marked the turning point of a historic period of transition for the East Timorese people. It was the last day of operation for the UN Transitional Administration of East Timor (UNTAET), bringing to a close more than 400 years of foreign rule.
It was also a day of contrasts, between those East Timorese who are still campaigning for social justice, and those who are content to make peace with East Timor's more recent oppressors – the governments of Indonesia and Australia – in the name of "reconciliation".
East Timorese campaign groups and NGOs took advantage of the arrival of Australian Prime Minister John Howard on May 19 to protest against Australia's attempts to block full East Timorese control over Timor Gap gas and oil reserves. Two Australian solidarity activists unfurled a protest banner and were thrown out of a press conference at Dili airport.
Howard's appearance at a second media conference in the centre of Dili was greeted with a protest by 500 East Timorese and a small number of international solidarity activists. A broad coalition of organisations planned the protest as the first stage of a campaign to defend East Timor's economic sovereignty.
Participants included the Labour Syndicate of East Timor; Eusebio Guterres, a member of parliament for the Democratic Party, representing the Labour Advocacy Institute of East Timor; La'o Hamutuk (the East Timor Institute for Reconstruction Monitoring and Development); the Sa'he Institute, a left-wing research organisation; the Timor Socialist Labour Organisation; Groupo Defensor, coordinated by Manuel Carrascalao; the Solidaritas student organisation; and the Pro-Proletariat Movement.
The protest began with a march of 120 people through Dili, starting from the offices of the Socialist Party of Timor (PST). At the busy Marcado Municipal, many onlookers joined the march, swelling the number to around 500.
Protesters carried placards reading, "Howard: you are a thief", "Timor Gap belongs to East Timor" and "Support economic independence for East Timor".
While many speakers at the protest focused on the Timor Gap issue, rally organisers championed the right of national self-determination for Aceh and West Papua. John Ondowame from the Free Papua Movement received wild applause from the crowd when he spoke, surrounded by a sea of Acehnese and West Papuan national flags.
The official independence ceremony began on the evening of May 19 at Taci Tolo, a huge oval on the outskirts of Dili. The road to the oval was blocked off for three kilometres, except for cars carrying UN personnel and dignitaries. Tens of thousands of East Timorese walked for two hours to get to the site.
East Timorese foreign minister Jose Ramos-Horta gave a special welcome to the World Bank president James Wohlfenson, and welcomed John Howard as "our friend". In his speech, President Xanana Gusmao also gave a special mention to the "courage" of Howard and former US president Bill Clinton.
The final welcome was for Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri, who made a late entrance after travelling with Gusmao to the Indonesian cemetery (opposite the Santa Cruz cemetery, site of the November 12, 1991, massacre of East Timorese protesters by the Indonesian army). Horta explained – in English, which only some East Timorese can understand – that Megawati had been to "visit the graves of fallen heroes"! Several days before Megawati's arrival, six Indonesian warships carrying 2000 troops steamed uninvited into Dili's harbour.
East Timor's new government faces many daunting challenges. Almost 50% of the adult population is illiterate; unemployment among town dwellers runs at 80%; only 20% of the population are able to access running water.
In his speech, Horta referred to the "outpouring of support" expressed at the Donors Meeting on East Timor, held on May 14-15. A joint media release issued on May 15 by the East Timorese government, UNTAET and the World Bank declared that donors pledged "over US$360 million for the development of East Timor after independence". There was no mention of the fact that this includes money for the exorbitant salaries of UN personnel, who will remain in the country after UNTAET's departure.
Furthermore, donor countries have refused to give money directly to the East Timorese government. Since the United Nations has declined to continue administering its Consolidated Fund for East Timor, East Timor's only option seems to be agreeing to let the World Bank manage the fund, as it has done with the Trust Fund for East Timor, in place since 2000 to fund its own projects in East Timor.
"The new government is unconstitutional", PST president Antonio Lopes told Green Left Weekly. "The constitution states that the elected president must sit together with all political parties and ask the party with the majority of seats in the parliament to nominate a prime minister, then the president and prime minister have to jointly appoint members of the government to cabinet positions.
"But it seems like the government has arranged everything already. Fretilin [which has the most seats in the parliament] has already appointed cabinet positions. They invited the parties to meet today [May 20] as a formality, and Xanana has raised no protest." When asked why the government felt able to flout the constitution, Lopes explained: "[Newly installed prime minister] Mari Alkatiri and others who have come back from Portugal and Mozambique have marginalised the opposition political parties" whose representatives stayed in East Timor through the last 25 years. "Forty percent of Fretilin members of parliament are from the diaspora", Lopes explained. Asked what the PST thought of the new government's eagerness to make friends with the governments which opposed East Timor's independence struggle, Lopes replied: "Yesterday [May 19] was the day when Alkatiri and Horta were demonstrating that they were on the side of the right wing. They deliberately left out two verses of the new national anthem which were strongly against colonialism and imperialism."