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.