Max Lane – The Socialist Party of Timor (PST) evolved out of the national liberation struggle in Timor Leste in the 1970s. In the first stage of that struggle, socialist ideas circulated, originating from contact with Portugal, Brazil or the national liberation struggles in the Portuguese African colonies.
These ideological seeds did not, however, have the opportunity to flower, instead being trampled underfoot by the military occupation by the military forces of General Suharto of Indonesia. Many of the leaders of the movement were killed, others exiled. More fundamentally, the Timorese struggle was confined to a rural mountain-based, low intensity guerilla struggle, without any serious source of arms and ammunition, for at least 15 years. More leaders were thus lost.
In the 1980s there was a brief moment when the original, historical, national liberation united front, FRETILIN (Revolutionary Front of Independent East Timor) reasserted its leftist character by taking on the name FRETILIN Marxist Leninist. But neither the international political situation, nor the situation within Timor Leste was conducive to a leftist orientation. The movement's ideological orientation became primarily nationalist with independence being the only goal reflected upon.
The situation was so desperate, with one third of the population dying as a result of the occupation, that the immediate necessity of ending the military occupation subsumed any reflection on what Timor might become after independence. Further, there was no developed capitalist class structure in Timor Leste on which Marxist proletarian ideology could be fostered. Nor was there any likelihood that Australia, Indonesia or any of their major imperialist backers or allies would support independence for a socialist state.
Naturally, as the movement "de-ideologised," there were those elements inclined to more stubbornly insist on ongoing allegiance to a progressive, left orientation. Such people existed within FRETILIN. For a while after Timor Leste regained its independence in the early 2000s, some of these gathered in a grouping oriented to the figure, Sahe, the leftist Minister for Labor in the 1975 Fretilin government. This grouping did not last long.
The progressive, left grouping that has sustained itself is the Socialist Party of Timor, a great achievement in itself. The PST began as a communist student organisation in the 1980s and then as a pre-party formation in the 1990s. The central figure in this 35-year-long process has been Avelino de Coehlo, whose nom de guerre during the war against the occupation was Shalar Kosi FF. Read more about his story here: The brief history and perspectives of the Socialist Party of Timor.
In many respects, the PST current reflected a resistance to the drift towards a social democratic, welfare state, orientation that accepted Timor would operate under normal capitalist conditions, moderated only by its actual objective conditions. This resistance was a minority current as all the leadership at the summit of the movement adopted the social democratic perspective. The summit forces had three spokespersons for their outlook: Xanana Gusmao, the formal FRETILIN leadership (Mari Alkatiri), and Jose Ramos Horta. The differences between these three ideological perspectives have been differences of degree, not ones that are fundamental.
The PST's orientation is summed up metaphorically by Coehlo's statement that while FRETILIN might still be FRETILIN on the outside, it is the PST that is FRETILIN on the inside – i.e. maintains a revolutionary and leftist orientation. Coehlo, now in his late fifties is not seen as part of that 1975 "summit leadership". Coehlo is seen as part of the second generation of leaders and well-known as the commander of the Black Brigade that organised the Timorese resistance inside Indonesia.
Timor Leste's economic structure and radical potential
The evolution of the PST reveals features you might expect given the conditions it has faced. These included being severed from the Portuguese and African Liberation left because of the occupation. With the bulk of the 1975 Fretilin leadership either killed or having drifted to a social democratic centre-left orientation, its ideological evolution also had to develop in isolation. Fundamentally, formulating a socialist perspective in independent Timor Leste has had to the country's lack of both capitalist development and industrialisation. The country's very small population, just over one million people, comprises a more-or-less communally, or clan based, subsistence peasantry, producing only minimal produce for the market. There has been exports of coffee, copra and sandalwood over the centuries, but they remain a marginal part of the economy.
Any countervailing factors – the oil and gas that has financed the emergence of some minimal urban life and commodity consumption in the villages, an overseas migrant workforce, a small service sector and a public service – have not upturned Timor Leste's basic economic structure. The socialist perspective in Timor Leste therefore cannot be one of the united proletariat seizing the means of production. Wage workers have not yet multiplied enough nor gained sufficient collective experience to have become a self-conscious class. The means of production – apart from the oil and gas rigs established out on the Timor Sea by foreign companies – are primarily the village agrarian lands, much of which is abandoned today. There is no landlordism phenomena of any note.
Revolutionary consciousness that might emerge will probably be that of the rural majority abandoned by both Portuguese colonialism and Indonesian military occupation and now, inevitably, by contemporary capitalist underdevelopment – even under social democratically oriented governments. It is the potential of the rural majority to reject their status as being forgotten and left behind that may provide revolutionary energy, if in alliance with a new generation of educated youth.
I should say here that I do think that, indeed, the governments of Timor Leste have been social democratic welfare state governments, even as economic activity in the country is organised along capitalist lines which no doubt mitigates against welfare measures. To the credit of all Timorese governments, there is a universal aged pension which is very important for the whole rural population. Perhaps the challenge then is not so much about immediate income support for older rural people, but how productivity of the rural population can be boosted.
This page and a half of initial comments I write so that the reader understands why I was very encouraged by my experiences with the PST and its members during a recent visit to Timor. This was not my first visit and not my first experience with the PST, with whom I have had some collaboration since 1994. It is to help explain why I have not been so concerned with the extent of their familiarity with Marxist and Leninist theorising, but rather engagement with this unique reality and an orientation not to an imagined proletariat but to a village population suffering from centuries of abandonment.
Visiting East Timor in 2024
When I met a PST cadre, a young woman, and she answered my question as to why she joined the PST, with one word "agriculture," I felt immediately positive. Cecilia – nick named Chilli – is a final year student in the Tourism Faculty at the National University of Timor Leste (UNTL). She explained that her family was from a remote village and that her parents were farmers. She and her siblings were all undertaking some form of study now.
"I attended a PST seminar in the town of Manututu," she explained, "and joined the PST soon after that." I did ask her whether as a socialist, she had started study Marxism. "I have been given a book on Karl Marx's ideas and I know we socialists must study this, but I haven't had the chance to do this yet. I will do so after I finish my studies." The book was in the Indonesian language, she explained.
She was already studying the country's situation, if not yet book-based theory. "A PST team regularly visits the villages, which we also often did during the election campaign. Dr Avelino would explain the PST's agricultural policies and answer questions from the people." She explained that she not only learned a lot from the PST leaders' speeches, but also from the questions and comments of the people. "That is how we can understand our peoples' problems."
As she spoke more, the sentiment behind her commitment to the party emerged increasingly clearly. It was based on a popular patriotic idealism: "As young people we must do something to help advance our people and help our country."
Her work as a PST cadre, she explained, was primarily focussed on convincing other students and friends to attend PST seminars and discussions where its policies were explained. "We need to convince as many young people as we can."
I noticed a similar atmosphere when I spoke at a discussion forum organised at the PST office. There were about 40 to 50 students there, and a few older adults. Most of the students were from the University of Dili and da Paz University, although a few were also from UNTL, the state university. After my session, Avelino Coehlo spoke at a second session. In both my session and his, other PST leaders also engaged the students in a lively interaction. I spoke in Indonesian, but, unlike ten years ago, the discussion was mostly in Tetun, the main Timorese language. I could only pick up bits and pieces of the discussion, but it was clear the sentiment of "the youth must do something for the country and people" was a strong motivation.
The one current controversy that was raised by a few of the students was the recent forced removal of street stalls and peddlers from an area of Dili, without – so everybody confirmed – adequate compensation or relocation preparations. The students also said that the police actions had been quite brutal. I had heard that Avelino Coehlo, who very frequently appears on Timorese TV news shows, had advocated that a preparation for relocation, if it was necessary, should always be prepared properly. His message to the students was that it was necessary to convince the people who they vote for is crucial for change. "The people vote for a party that then acts against them, and then vote for them again."
I sensed an echo of this sentiment when talking with Chilli as well. "We must vote for a program, know the program and support a party because we agree with it. So many people vote out of organisational loyalty", she said, "without looking at the program." The contrast between supporting a program versus an organisation, popped up again and again. Talking to various commentators on and participants in politics while in Dili, and since, many confirm that loyalty to key national struggle figures or organisations, supplemented by big campaign expenditure, delivered the votes for the major parties. Avelino Coehlo's emphasis was that this political culture needed to change.
I asked to see the PST's agricultural policy. It was an 18-page document entitled Indicative Plan for National Agrarian Transformation (PILTRAN) and published for this year's election campaign. It is a very detailed document, assessing the state of Timorese agriculture, affirming that 70% of the population is involved in agriculture and artisanal fishing, and proposes a range of policies to develop the sector.
One aspect, strongly emphasised, is the necessity for the farming population to be more seriously organised and mobilised. The essence of this approach is for government support for the formation of Farming Production Brigades using as their foundation, elements of traditional social formations. These would be also established based on prioritisation of different areas according to their agricultural potential. The document calls for an increase in government expenditure in the sector to at least 10% of the state Budget, up from the current 2.5%.
The idea of basing increasing productivity of the farming community on a serious collective organisation of that community is very consistent with a socialist approach. "In any case," emphasised Coehlo, "none of this is possible unless the PST can win support from the people and win elections."The PST had one member in Timor's first parliament but has been unable to win the seat again. "We campaign and won't stop campaigning. We will keep continuing to present our separate policies in every campaign. We will make sure we retain our electoral registration."
While there are some socialist discussion circles in Dili, the PST is the only socialist party. Most of the small parties that have participated in elections over the last 20 years have now faded away, but the PST has not given up.
While seeing transformation of Timorese society as requiring an electoral victory and taking government, it is not simply an electoral party but remains active in organising cooperatives among farmers and villagers. While there, I was also told the party would establish a university and high school students' association in June or July.
Internationally, the PST has recently affiliated to the International Peoples' Assembly, with which Red Ant is also affiliated.