Alatas calls referendum in E. Timor 'unacceptable'
Alatas calls referendum in E. Timor 'unacceptable'
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas warned
yesterday that a referendum on East Timor's status, as demanded
by some East Timorese, would likely lead to clashes between
supporters and opponents of integration with Indonesia.
Alatas also dismissed the notion that a referendum would solve
the East Timor problem.
"A referendum is something that we think is inappropriate and
is unacceptable to the majority of the East Timorese people
because they feel that they have already decided (the issue)
several years ago.
"A referendum, by the way, would also be something fraught
with all kinds of risks," he told reporters in his office.
A group of about 20 young East Timorese staged a demonstration
at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday, denouncing calls
for reform and stating their support for East Timor to remain a
part of Indonesia.
On Friday, some 1,000 East Timorese students from various
cities in Java converged on the ministry to call for a referendum
on the status of the former Portuguese colony.
The government has insisted that the question of East Timor's
status was settled when a group of East Timorese leaders,
representing the majority of the population, declared their
intention to join the republic in 1976.
Alatas said that those calling for a referendum were "the very
parties which did not even want anything close to a referendum or
a democratically achieved solution."
He was apparently referring to Nobel Peace Prize laureate
Ramos Horta and the Fretilin movement which has been fighting for
an independent East Timor.
"They preferred to solve the East Timor issue through force of
arms when political parties in East Timor declared for
integration. Now, they are turning around and becoming defenders
of a referendum."
Alatas underscored President B.J. Habibie's offer to grant a
special status for East Timor to break the current impasse in
negotiations with Portugal on the status of the territory.
"I hope the other side will not just react in a negative way
before even knowing what the context is," he said. "We need the
political will to try to move (forward) to find a solution
acceptable to both sides."
Indonesia and Portugal have been conducting negotiations on
East Timor under the auspices of the UN secretary-general.
A group of activists calling themselves the Committee for
Solidarity for a Peaceful Solution to East Timor met with
legislators from the Armed Forces yesterday to call on the
government to allow a referendum to take place in East Timor to
resolve the problem once and for all.
"The anti-integration demonstrations, the growing calls for a
referendum and the increasing number of East Timorese seeking
political asylum overseas are evidence East Timor is a problem
that needs solving," Helmy Fauzi, coordinator of the group, said.
Other activists present included Hendardi, H.J.C. Princen,
Bonar Tigor Naipospos and Yenny Rosa Damayanti.
Supporters of East Timor's integration said the call for a
referendum betrayed the Balibo Declaration made by their leaders
in 1976.
Former East Timor governor Mario Viegas Carrascalao said those
calling for reform never thought of the consequences for East
Timor if it split from Indonesia.
"It's suicidal. East Timor does not have the capacity to stand
on its own," Carrascalao said as reported by Antara.
Domingos MD Soares, chairman of the Center for Development
Studies in East Timor, said integration with Indonesia remained
the best course for East Timor's advancement in the future.
(byg/rms)