An honorable exit

The government's indication that it may be willing to consider granting East Timor independence is a major shift in policy that is both inevitable and late in arriving.

The futility of the campaign to assimilate East Timor has grown increasingly apparent and the proposal to assign the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) to rule on the future of the troubled province may mark the beginning of the final chapter in Indonesia's bloody and turbulent rule over the former Portuguese colony.

That said, it is debatable whether this is the best option for all concerned, particularly the East Timorese people, and it may be that the government is looking to make an honorable exit from the political quagmire into which it has been dragged over the affair.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas announced on Wednesday that the government would table the East Timor motion in the MPR if the current United Nations-sponsored negotiations with Portugal on special autonomy for the province break down. The talks have stalled over the issue of self-determination, with Portugal and a number of factions in East Timor insisting that this option should remain open for between five and 10 years after special autonomy has been granted. Indonesia has insisted that special autonomy should be a final solution which all parties must abide by. It has argued that a referendum would reopen the old wounds which have festered since the troubled province staggered to the brink of a civil war after the Portuguese colonial administration's rapid departure in 1975.

Jakarta has invested heavily in East Timor from the time it became Indonesia's 27th province in 1976. During this period, the territory developed at a rate unequaled in four centuries of Portuguese rule. Improvements were recorded in per-capita income, education, health, and basic economic and social infrastructure, including new churches. Unfortunately, the Indonesian government appears to have ignored the fact that "man cannot live by bread alone", and its presence has been regarded as a military occupation, both in the territory and around the world.

Opposition to Indonesia's rule in East Timor has never died down and the United Nations still recognizes Portugal as the ruling administration. Indonesia's chances of using diplomatic channels to secure support for its rule in the territory came to an end after Indonesian troops massacred East Timorese mourners at a funeral in Dili in November 1991. The incident, and a botched attempt by the military to cover it up, led to an international outcry which still haunts Indonesia to this day. No amount of diplomacy, not even by the capable and respected Alatas, has been able to repair the damage caused to Indonesia's reputation by the Dili massacre.

Subsequent events have not helped, and hopes of victory in the East Timor campaign have become increasingly illusory. On the ground, military atrocities have continued, with sporadic reports reaching the outside world. In international circles, East Timor resistance leader Jose Ramos Horta won the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize along with Dili Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo. Earlier this month, Australia withdrew its key support of Indonesia's rule in East Timor and adopted the view that a referendum would be necessary if talks on special autonomy failed.

While it may yet be premature to write off the talks on special autonomy, the government's announcement is a clear sign that Indonesia is now prepared to withdraw from the territory in an honorable fashion. Under the face-saving proposal, Indonesia would be severing ties with East Timor, not the other way round.

Unfortunately this approach does not answer the one perplexing question that a referendum would have shed light on. That is, whether the majority of East Timorese people want to be part of Indonesia or not. This has always been the main sticking point between those who support integration with Indonesia and those who oppose it. A referendum could have settled the issue once and for all. The government is understandably opposed to a referendum because a loss would be a major embarrassment. But by not holding a referendum, either now or 10 years down the line, we will never really find out the answer to what is undoubtedly the most important question about East Timor these last 23 years.