Gusmao rules out run for presidency

Gusmao rules out run for presidency

DILI, East Timor (AP): After quitting East Timor's interim legislature in a bitter dispute over the shape of a new constitution, independence leader Xanana Gusmao announced Thursday that he will not compete in the nation's first presidential election.

"I will not run for president," said Gusmao, who had been widely expected to assume the position. "I believe that if I could do something for this country and these people it was in a different stage of the process, the liberation struggle," he told The Associated Press.

East Timor's temporary UN administrator, Sergio Vieira de Mello, said he accepted Gusmao's resignation Wednesday night from the National Council, East Timor's UN-controlled interim legislature. But de Mello also said he hoped that the former guerrilla leader would eventually change his mind and run for president.

"I do hope he will stand for elections," de Mello said in an interview. "I believe he is key to stability in East Timor during the transitional phase and particularly after independence."

East Timor has been under UN administration since 1999, when an overwhelming majority of its people voted for independence from Indonesia, which occupied the region since 1975.

A campaign of killings and destruction by pro-Jakarta militias that gripped the territory after the ballot was brought to a halt by the arrival of an Australian-led international peacekeeping force arrived in September 1999.

In his resignation letter sent to de Mello late Wednesday, Gusmao said the National Council -- which consists of 36 members appointed by the United Nations -- no longer reflects the views of the East Timorese people. The committee is a consultative body working alongside the UN administration.

"He feels he was unfairly challenged by some members of the National Council, and I agree with him," de Mello said.

Gusmao quit after an acrimonious debate in the legislature about the new constitution. He appears to have been angered that his own party blocked a proposal - which he favored - that all of East Timor's 600,000 people be canvassed for their views on the new national charter.

Elections are due to be held in August for an 88-seat constituent assembly, which will replace the National Council and draw up a new constitution. This will be followed by a presidential election and the declaration of full independence, probably in the first half of 2002.

Gusmao led the East Timorese freedom fighters in their long battle against Indonesian occupation. He was captured by government troops in 1992 and sentenced to life in prison. However, he was released at the time of the 1999 plebiscite.

Despite his resignation, many people in the territory believe that the mercurial, 54-year-old leader will succumb to popular pressure and compete in, and win, the presidential election.

"He is our hero. We still need him -- not only the National Council, but all people in East Timor need him," said National Council member Clementino dos Reis Amaral.

This was not the first time Gusmao has resigned after disagreements with political rivals.