Explaining East Timor

Explaining East Timor

Indonesia and Portugal appear to be making a significant
breakthrough in their efforts to resolve the status of East
Timor. In the latest round of talks between their foreign
ministers at the United Nations this week, the two sides agreed
to discuss an Indonesian proposal to give a special autonomy
status to East Timor. In the past, their meetings ended in a
deadlock on the question of a referendum by the East Timorese,
with Portugal insisting on the idea, while Indonesia opposed it.

The news coming out of New York did not say whether Portugal
has dropped the idea of a referendum altogether. Indonesia's
position, as explained by Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas
on several occasions, is clear: The special autonomy status is
part of an overall and final solution to the situation in East
Timor. This means that once the special status is adopted,
Portugal and the United Nations, and therefore the rest of the
world, must recognize Indonesia's sovereignty over East Timor.

As far as Jakarta is concerned, East Timor became formally
incorporated into the republic in 1976 when the House of
Representatives endorsed a petition signed by tribal leaders
representing the majority of the East Timorese stating their
desire to join Indonesia. This, Jakarta considers, was as close
to a referendum the East Timorese people could have held at the
time. The territory was then embroiled in a bloody civil war
following the hasty departure of Portugal in 1975.

The Indonesian government argues that a referendum today would
divide the East Timorese people once again, and plunge them into
a renewed civil war. The United Nations has never recognized the
1976 incorporation of East Timor and still regards Portugal as
the administering power of the territory to this day.

The fact that Portugal made no mention of a referendum does
not mean that it has dropped the idea entirely. Certainly, the
idea is still very much alive in the minds of some East Timorese
leaders wishing to have their own independent state. Portugal's
agreement to give the special autonomy status proposal a look is
welcomed nevertheless, for it is a sign of a more accommodative
approach on its part. It has at least allowed the protracted and
often frustrating talks to make some headway.

With Lisbon accepting to discuss the autonomy proposal, future
negotiations between Indonesia and Portugal could focus on the
details of how much autonomy the East Timorese will have in
running their own affairs and how much influence the central
government in Jakarta should retain.

Details like these are too precious to be left to the two
foreign ministers alone. East Timorese of all political colors
must be brought in to help fill in the blanks. It is, after all,
their future that we're talking about. They should be allowed to
have the greatest say on how they want to run their territory.
This may prove more difficult if not all East Timorese agree to
the idea of autonomy in the first place. But it is still worth a
shot.

While we laud the government, particularly the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, for its relentless efforts in making the
breakthrough, we wished the government was as diligent at home.
As it stands today, the public here, including the people in East
Timor, is still in the dark as to what this special autonomy
status really means, or more precisely, how much freedom the East
Timorese people will be given in running their own affairs.
President B.J. Habibie has explained the matter to foreign
visitors and foreign journalists several times, and Alatas has
also clarified the concept abroad. Neither of them, or any other
government official for that matter, has taken the trouble or the
time to explain the idea to the Indonesian public.

The concept itself raises several questions. Since our
Constitution does not recognize "special autonomy status", should
this not be written into the document first? Then there is also
the question of why stop with East Timor. What about the
country's other 26 provinces? Are they not entitled to enjoy a
greater degree of autonomy and the privileges that come with it
in running their own affairs? Are they not entitled to elect
their own governors and retain a greater part of their wealth for
the development of their own provinces? It is now apparent that
there is a growing discontent among people in several provinces
about too much centralization, and many of them are now demanding
greater autonomy. They will undoubtedly be looking at how far the
government is willing to go with the East Timorese people.

While we fully understand the desire to bring a speedy
resolution to the East Timor question, the government must also
consider the implications of its special status proposal at home.
It can start this by explaining its move to the public.