East Timor elects new governor today<\/p>\n
By Virgilio S. Guterres and Lourenco V. Martins<\/p>\n
DILI (JP): The 45 members of the provincial legislative
\ncouncil will elect a new governor for East Timor today from among
\nthree contenders approved recently by Minister of Home Affairs
\nMoch. Yogie S.M.<\/p>\n
The three are incumbent Governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares,
\nManufahi Regent Nazario Jose Tilman de Andrade and Baucau Regent
\nVirgilio Maria Dias Marcal. Two other names that the council had
\nsuggested earlier, but were scratched by Yogie, were Council
\nSpeaker Armindo Soares Mariano and Dili Regent Domingos Maria das
\nDores Soares.<\/p>\n
The removal of Armindo's name from the list was a surprise to
\nmany as he, along with Abilio, was considered the strongest
\ncandidate for East Timor governor for 1997\/2002.<\/p>\n
Throughout its integration history, East Timor has been
\nfraught with problems and has always been the center of world
\nattention. It is therefore no exaggeration to say that it is
\ncrucial for the province to have a highly credible leader.<\/p>\n
The following are opinions of several observers about the
\nideal profile of a governor for the province.<\/p>\n
House member Salvador Januario Ximenes Soares is of the
\nopinion that the nominees that have been put forward are capable
\nof leading East Timor, but Abilio has the biggest chance as he
\nhas five years' experience leading the province.<\/p>\n
"It has been customary in our election process that if an
\nincumbent governor is renominated, it means that he is still
\nneeded and will be reelected," Soares said in Jakarta recently.<\/p>\n
He admitted that under Abilio's governorship in the past five
\nyears, the province experienced tremendous progress.<\/p>\n
However, if he was reelected, Soares said the first thing he
\nwould have to do would be to introduce discipline and orderliness
\nto his administration. He said Abilio needed to establish a clean
\nbureaucracy capable of accommodating people's aspirations and
\ntranslating them into the reality of development undertakings.<\/p>\n
"Clean apparatus must not be mere political slogans," he
\nstressed.<\/p>\n
Soares hoped that with concrete steps and policies Abilio
\nwould be able to disprove rumors about corruption in his present
\nadministration. The rumors were flying before and during the
\nnomination process.<\/p>\n
Asked about the importance of the next governor for the
\nsettlement of the East Timor issue abroad, Soares said he hoped
\nthat he or she would have a bearing on the process.<\/p>\n
He pointed out that the issue raised abroad was in fact
\ninseparable with what has been happening in East Timor.<\/p>\n
"As long as what happens in East Timor is favorable, the
\nreflection abroad will be so, too. However, if bad things happen
\nin East Timor, the reflection abroad will also be bad," said
\nSoares, who attended the All Inclusive Intra East Timorese
\nDialogs I and II in Austria.<\/p>\n
He went on to say, however, that irrespective of the East
\nTimor political question, which was still far from being solved,
\nthe governor was not the only person who had to play a role in
\nEast Timor.<\/p>\n
In this respect, there is the church, the Armed Forces and
\nother community figures whose involvement in the problem is very
\nmuch expected, he said.<\/p>\n
Soares was of the opinion that a settlement was far from being
\nreached as long as negotiations between Indonesia and Portugal
\nunder the auspice of the United Nations secretary-general failed
\nto create a "take and give" atmosphere, with each side refusing
\nto budge from their original positions.<\/p>\n
Embracing<\/p>\n
Separately, resident Olandina Caeiro Alves said the ideal
\nprofile of the East Timor governor was one who had two important
\ntraits, namely the ability to embrace all layers of society, and
\nthe political capability of contributing to the settlement of the
\nEast Timor question internationally.<\/p>\n
"So, one should not simply shout slogans on the stage or
\nmerely (make promises) and then forget to dedicate himself to the
\npeople once he is elected governor," she told The Jakarta Post.
\nShe spoke in her private capacity as an East Timorese rather than
\nas a provincial legislative council member of the Indonesian
\nDemocratic Party.<\/p>\n
A non-governmental organization activist, Florentino Sarmento,
\nsaid: "We have always been expecting an ideal (governor) --
\nsomething that has never become a reality."<\/p>\n
He expressed hope that the next governor would be "one who is
\npractical in his actions and has a realistic way of thinking".<\/p>\n
He believed the incumbent governor had a better chance because
\nof his experience at the post.<\/p>\n
"Abilio enjoys the support of both East Timorese and the
\ncentral government," said Sarmento, formerly a director of the
\nEast Timor Agriculture Development Program.<\/p>\n
"Another reason is that Abilio is one who has honest
\nintentions of bringing welfare to the East Timorese," he said.<\/p>\n
He cited Abilio's efforts to fight for some sort of autonomy
\nfor East Timor. These efforts, according to him, should be seen
\nas putting one's home in order so that the central government had
\nstronger leverage in its campaign to find a diplomatic solution
\nto the East Timor question abroad.<\/p>\n
"At first these efforts were unacceptable to various groups in
\nEast Timor and also the central government. However, many people,
\nincluding Dili Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, have expressed
\ntheir support," he added.<\/p>",
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