East Timor

East Timor

From Republika

In trying to find a solution to the East Timor question, the
government, in a recent Cabinet meeting on political and security
affairs, made quite a shocking announcement to the effect that
the Indonesian government is ready to drop the province from the
Republic of Indonesia.

In my opinion this decision is too extreme and rather unfair.
Although the proposal to give up East Timor is only a last
option, we must not fail to note that in this proposal the East
Timorese who wish to remain within the Republic of Indonesia are
simply ignored to the advantage of the anti-integration group.

It is true that, in the absence of a reliable survey, we do
not have an exact percentage of East Timorese who are in favor of
integration (including those who wish to be allowed autonomy of
the widest range), and those who are against integration.
Nevertheless, I am convinced that the group wishing to see East
Timor remain part of the territory of the Republic of Indonesia
is quite large.

I think that before it is formally decided and stipulated that
East Timor will be dropped from the Republic of Indonesia, we
still have a possibly better and fairer alternative which all
parties concerned may find tolerable. This alternative is a
referendum. With a referendum we may find the exact percentage of
East Timorese who are in favor of integration and those who are
against it. At the same time, we may also obtain accurate data
about predominantly pro-integration and anti-integration
districts. This information will enable us to offer a division of
East Timor into two parts. For example, the northern part
(including Pante Makassar) will remain part of the Republic of
Indonesia and the southern part will be an independent state.

This alternative will benefit all parties concerned. If, for
example, the pro-integration group gets only one district, they
will find this division to their satisfaction. After some years,
it can be seen which part of East Timor is more developed, just
like South Korea and North Korea. In this way, the parties
concerned will learn whether it is better to remain part of
Indonesia or become independent. Who knows, the anti-integration
group may some day become pro-integration. I hope Mr. Ali Alatas
will find this suggestion worth considering.

UM KASIM UMAR

Depok, Bogor