East Timor's fate in its own hands

East Timor's fate in its own hands

By Desi Anwar

JAKARTA (JP): From the outset, global politics played a major
part in the creation of the East Timor problem. Back in 1975,
when the Cold War was the order of the day and international
communism the specter that haunted the free world, it was easy to
take sides in the civil war that was taking place in East Timor.
After all, the choice was a straightforward one: independence,
albeit under the communist Fretilin rule, or tolerate integration
with a staunchly anticommunist Indonesia. Clearly, it was more
favorable then to be under Indonesian Armed Forces than under
armed guerrillas espoused to Marxist and Leninist teachings. And
for over two decades, the prointegration camp and the
international world tolerated Indonesia's presence in the area --
although with more and more misgivings as the Armed Forces,
though ideologically correct, turned out to be armed thugs.

Politically, things would have been a lot simpler if the
proindependence group was completely defeated and followed the
path of integrationists. However, they merely relocated their
position to jungles and mountains, and formed their own
government there. The East Timorese, therefore, had two masters:
one hidden in the jungles and another sitting in a government
office in town. Both were equally influential, intimidating and
uncompromising in their stance.

With the fall of communism and the end of the Cold War, global
politics changed and so did the nature of struggle in East Timor.
Human rights issues became more important as the world turned
democratic. The lords of East Timor's jungles said goodbye to
their communist past and changed their cause into a nationalist
one based on the values of democracy and human rights. Values
which the lords in town unfortunately failed to foster as they
remained stuck in their thug mode, a behavior that alienated the
locals and gave fodder to critics all over the world. Indonesia
as the former liberator became the evil colonizer but the
proindependence movement, the former agents of communism, emerged
as the champion of democracy and human rights, and also pressed
for the freedom of the East Timorese.

The New Order government would not have tolerated this kind of
pressure. It did not even countenance autonomy for the region let
alone the possibility of independence. The new Habibie
government, however, proved to be more pragmatic, if somewhat
impulsive, regarding the East Timor issue. A possible solution
cooked up by the United Nations, the Indonesian foreign ministry
and Portugal, wide-ranging autonomy for the region was supposed
to be a compromise to appease the East Timorese and silence
international critics. However, Indonesia's messy domestic
politics and regional upheavals are sucking up all of the
government's patience and energy leaving little room to worry
about a far-flung province that no one really takes an interest
in. President Habibie threw the East Timor problem back to where
it originally belongs, the East Timorese themselves.

This is tantamount to turning back the clock to where East
Timor was over two decades ago: a confrontation between the
prointegration and proindependence camps. Actually, neither side
asked for autonomy. Those who are prointegration are quite happy
to be part of Indonesia. All they ask for is a little
understanding and sensitivity from the Indonesian authorities
about how they are treated. Those who dream of an independent
East Timor on the other hand would certainly not accept autonomy
without the possibility of self-determination at some point.

Autonomy, therefore, is a compromise for both camps. However,
Indonesia's promise of instant independence means that the table
has now turned in favor of the proindependence group. Having
struggled for over two decades in the jungles, the ballot
enabling East Timor to either remain an autonomous part of
Indonesia or separate is not only a recognition of their
existence long denied by the Indonesian government, but also a
real opportunity to create their own nation.

With the wind blowing in favor of independence, pro-
Indonesians are afraid that they are the ones who will end up
hiding in the jungles exiled from their homeland, or face
retribution if East Timor does become independent.

However, now that the fate of East Timor is once more in the
hands of its people, it is imperative that all involved in
supervising the ballot maintain complete neutrality to ensure
that a peaceful and fair ballot can be conducted. Seeing that the
ballot would make winners of one side and losers of the other,
only a peaceful ballot free from violence, fear and intimidation
can produce a result that is acceptable to all, and hence ensure
a legitimate identity for East Timor on the world stage.

Complete neutrality goes for the UN personnel and
international champions of the underdog who are prone to
sympathize with those who dream of leaving the jungles to claim
their place in the sun, and the Indonesian authorities who still
cling to the memory of lives sacrificed to save the region from
the grip of communism in order to return the eastern half of the
island to its rightful place in the archipelago.

A failure to hold a peaceful ballot in East Timor is not only
Indonesia's failure, but that of the United Nations, Portugal and
those in the world who truly care about the future of East Timor.
And when that happens, it is the East Timorese who will have to
suffer the consequences.

The writer is a journalist and columnist.