An honorable exit

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.