Gusmao urges parties to avoid violence, graft<\/p>\n
DILI, East Timor (Agencies): A day after announcing that he
\nwill run for East Timor's presidency next year, freedom fighter
\nXanana Gusmao on Sunday urged all parties to respect the outcome
\nof Thursday's election for a constituent assembly that will set
\nthe nation on its road to independence.<\/p>\n
\"Big or small we must respect each other,\" Gusmao said at a
\npolitical rally in the capital, Dili.<\/p>\n
The 88-member constituent assembly will draft a constitution
\nfor the world's newest nation and decide whether it will have a
\npresidential or parliamentary system.<\/p>\n
The territory, which has been under United Nations
\nadministration since the Indonesian withdrawal in Oct. 1999, is
\nexpected to achieve self-rule by the middle of next year.<\/p>\n
Gusmao, 55, who led the war against the Indonesians in the
\n1980s and spent seven years behind bars after being captured by
\ngovernment troops, became a potent symbol of East Timor's
\nresistance to the 24-year occupation.<\/p>\n
He enjoys immense personal popularity and is widely expected
\nto become East Timor's first president.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, he finally relented to public pressure and
\ndeclared his intention to run in the presidential elections,
\nexpected early next year.<\/p>\n
\"I declare here and now that I will accept to be nominated by
\nthe parties to the office of the president of the republic of
\nTimor Lorasae,\" Gusmao said.<\/p>\n
\"...I wish to put an end to speculation on this subject. (But)
\nI am conscious that I am not the best person for the job.\"
\nThe hugely popular Gusmao had repeatedly said he did not wish to
\nstand and would prefer to spend his time helping people
\nunderstand the democratic process.<\/p>\n
But Gusmao, who recently said he wanted to concentrate on
\nphotography, also told his supporters he had other passions
\nbesides politics.<\/p>\n
\"I always nurtured the dream that after independence I would
\nhave time to cultivate pumpkins and breed animals and hopes
\nshould never die,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In an interview later with BBC World Service radio, Gusmao
\nsaid he had changed his mind about standing for election after
\ncoming under intense pressure from foreign governments.<\/p>\n
However, Gusmao said his pursuit of the presidency was
\nconditional on a peaceful outcome to Thursday's UN-supervised
\nballot.<\/p>\n
He insisted that violence among rivals, which has wracked the
\ncountry for generations, must not erupt again, and demanded that
\nthe government adopt a policy of reconciliation for those who
\nfought for or backed Indonesian rule.<\/p>\n
\"Choose in such a way that we do not spill blood on our hands
\nagain,\" Gusmao said at Sunday's rally in Dili's main sports
\nstadium.<\/p>\n
He also warned the country's politicians against allowing a
\nrevival of the endemic corruption that marked 24 years of
\nIndonesian rule, and appealed for all citizens to remain vigilant
\nand prevent any instances of collusion and nepotism.<\/p>\n
\"Some among the party leaderships are looking to control
\nthings from the top,\" Xanana told a crowd of some 2,000
\nsupporters of the Democratic Party, a group of former underground
\nresistance supporters.<\/p>\n
Although Gusmao is not affiliated with any of the 16 parties
\ncontesting Thursday's ballot, he has frequently appeared at
\nrallies organized by the Democratic Party.<\/p>\n
In his speech, party leader Fernando Lasama de Araujo -- a
\nformer student leader who spent six years in jail in Jakarta --
\nblasted Indonesia's brutal occupation, in which tens of thousands
\nof East Timorese were killed.<\/p>\n
\"We're fighting for democracy because we do not want those
\ndeath merchants in our country again,\" de Araujo said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/gusmao-urges-parties-to-avoid-violence-graft-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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