Turmoil in East Timor exposes divisions

Apart from news concerning its negotiations with Canberra over oil and gas deposits in the waters separating it from Australia, East Timor has rarely been mentioned in the world media since the end of its widely covered independence struggle in 2002.

In recent weeks, however, the tiny nation of around a million became once again a centre of media focus. This, as a result of its increasing slide towards the brink of civil war.

With violence escalating, mobs trashing cars and buildings, people fleeing the capital city, Dili, or seeking refuge at foreign embassies and the UN compound, foreign troops arriving to halt the unrest, and hundreds of international workers being evacuated, it seems the country's whole system has collapsed and the dreams the Timorese fought for have been lost.

The failure of the authorities to deal with the crisis has demonstrated how weak the government is. On the other hand, the quick development of a mere protest by 600 disgruntled soldiers into a large-scale bloody conflict has clearly shown how the state is vulnerable to the culture of violence, something that stemmed from four centuries of Portuguese colonial rule and more than two decades of Indonesian occupation and independence struggle.

The crisis was initially triggered by the dismissal in March of nearly half of the 1,400-strong army on the grounds of cost-cutting, an action that led to a rebellion by the dismissed soldiers, who were entirely from the western part of the country.

Soon sporadic battles between the rebels and the military spread to violent clashes between rival gangs from east and west, especially after a large number of bored Dili youth and nearly 70 per cent of the country's police force attached themselves to the rebels.

East Timor's current crisis, however, is deeper than that and is attributed to numerous factors. It is not only a reflection of long mistrust and systematic discrimination against the western-born soldiers by easterners, who claim to have alone played a key role in winning the war against Jakarta.

It is also a reflection of deep ethnic and political divisions that have been concealed during the years of struggle for independence. This, coupled with factionalism within the ruling Fretilin party, regional ethnic and religious rivalries, and the country's poor resources that have prevented the launch of economic development.

Other factors include the way Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, a Muslim of Arab origin, has administered East Timor since 2002. Commenting on the unrest, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said that "the country has not been governed well over the past few years".

Such a view is shared by many including the rebels' leader Gastao Salsinha, who accused Alkatiri of being aloof, arrogant and corrupt, pointing in particular to the latter's reluctance to respond to the grievances forwarded by soldiers from west and his family's business dealings.

The strong Roman Catholic church, to which nearly 92 percent of the population belong, is also dissatisfied with Alkatiri's handling of Timor's affairs, probably on the background of his decision last year to make religious education in schools optional rather than compulsory.

Controversial leadership

There have also been many reports saying Alkatiri's controversial leadership style has brought him into direct conflict with the father of independence, President Xanana Gusmao, leading the latter to support Alkatiri's political opponents, including Nobel Peace Prize winner and Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta.

Differences between the two men go back to the early months of independence when Gusmao supported the adoption of a presidential system and Alkatiri fought for the current parliamentary system. This has intensified over the past four years, owing to Alkatiri's controversial foreign policies.

According to Loro Horta, a former adviser to the East Timorese Defence Department, examples of such policies include Alkatiri's "refusal to accept loans from the World Bank, despite a gross domestic product per capita of a mere $400" and his growing tilt towards the Cuban and other leftist regimes in Latin America. Both Gusmao and Ramos-Horta are of the opinion that East Timor must not have a foreign policy that is overtly confrontational to the West.

Another example of Alkatiri's controversial policies, which Loro Horta attributed to his long mingling with abusive African leaders during 24 years in exile in Mozambique, is his insistence on keeping more than $500 million in oil and gas revenues, earning interest, rather than spending it on development projects.

As a result, Alkatiri's personal popularity, once as high as that of Gusmao's, has steadily waned leading to mounting pressure on latter to sack him. But Gusmao, who is constitutionally little more than a figurehead, has no such power, especially now that the ruling party has overwhelmingly reelected Alkatiri as secretary-general.

Responding to calls from the rebels to resign, Alkatiri said that he would step aside only if there were someone good enough to replace him, adding that no such person exists. This serves as additional evidence of his arrogance.

Dr Abdullah Al Madani is an academic researcher and lecturer on Asian affairs.