I will only lead in transition: Xanana

I will only lead in transition: Xanana

By Dewi Anggraeni

MELBOURNE (JP): The moment he entered the room, Jose Alexandre
"Xanana" Gusmao exuded such warmth that everyone felt themselves
wanted and appreciated. He did not move around affecting interest
like politicians are likely to do. He was interested, and people
knew he was.

While he was obviously fit and healthy, and moved with a sure
gait, it was hard to imagine this man having lived in the
mountains for 16 years leading a resistance army. He had the body
language of someone who was surrounded by friends. He did not
throw furtive glances around him, or over his shoulder, nor did
he jolt at sudden noises. Maybe all that had been knocked out of
him during seven years of imprisonment and seven months of house
arrest.

No matter for how long he was imprisoned, his spirit still
seemed undampened. He looked younger than his 53 years. And his
eyes appeared to smile unreservedly with his whole self.

The exclusive interview, conducted in Melbourne shortly
before he arrived back home in East Timor, was in Indonesian.
When he used a compound word with a complicated prefix or suffix
he would unself-consciously look up to see if he had it right,
and if not, was happy to be corrected. When asked a probing
question he did not become defensive but treated it as a question
with the same importance as the previous ones.

He freely admitted that the strategic development plan that he
and his colleagues had drawn together was now obsolete. "There no
longer is anything even resembling an infrastructure, physical or
social, left in East Timor," he said. They would have to start
from zero.

Once in East Timor, he said he would evaluate what would be
the most immediate needs for the purpose of reconstruction. He
termed what they were experiencing now as the precursor of a
transitional period.

"We will then determine our priorities, short term and long
term," he said.

In the meantime, officials from the National Council for Timor
Resistance (CNRT), which he led, were going to meet in Darwin, a
city in Australia's Northern Territory, which witnessed the
germination of the resistance movement in this country.

Gusmao himself came here in 1974 following the political
unrest in East Timor, shortly after the left-wing coup in
Portugal. He nearly decided to emigrate, but when he returned to
East Timor to collect his family he was swept up by the political
movement there.

Darwin became the destination of many East Timorese leaving
during the political turmoil following the coup in Portugal. And
in 1975 it also became the center of communications between
guerrilla fighters in East Timor and the East Timorese community
outside, and their friends. A makeshift, clandestine Fretilin
radio was set up.

When asked if he was going to be the first president, Gusmao
clearly answered, "No." He continued to explain that he was
prepared to lead during the transition period. After that he
would like to see a more capable man leading the East Timorese in
building a new country.

Gusmao elaborated his belief that a country which had
struggled to gain its independence should be able and willing to
draw a dividing screen between the past and the present.

"Struggle is one thing and reconstruction is another. Those
who led the struggle should not take it for granted that they
will be able to lead the reconstruction. We have seen in some
countries where the leaders of the struggle are hero-worshiped,
became carried away and forgetting their own limitations,
continue to rule. It usually results in social and political
chaos."

He would lead in the transition period, he said, because it
was a continuation of the struggle. Gusmao expected the
transition period under the administration of the United Nations
might take two to three years.

He was confident that East Tumor would be successful in its
reconstruction, having secured promises of aid from Australia,
the United Kingdom, the United States and several European
countries.

On relationships between Indonesia and an independent East
Timor, he said there would be no problem building ties with the
Indonesian people. During his time in Cipinang prison he had
formed genuine friendships with a number of Indonesian political
prisoners and regarded them as kindred spirits.

His quarrel was with the military and their trained militia,
not with the people, he stressed. He even expressed optimism that
the Indonesian government would be more democratic and more
mindful of human rights in the country. He also said that the
relationship between an independent East Timor and Indonesia
would very much depend on the future Indonesian government.
Gusmao did not deny that there were factions within CNRT, yet did
not see them as threats.

"We have to regard the presence of factions as something
positive. To me each faction is a potential political party. In
an independent East Timor we will need different political
parties, not only the existing ones, and hopefully new ones.

"We need a wide democracy. So that out of those parties, if
one becomes government, there is another which becomes the
opposition."

Gusmao claimed he supported the idea of establishing an
international war crimes tribunal for alleged violations by some
Indonesian military officers, but not because he wanted revenge.

"We believe it would help create a more democratic climate for
Indonesia as well. We know Indonesians have also been victimized
by some elements of the military, so we all need to work toward
righting the wrongs. In fact, it is an expression of solidarity
with our Indonesian brothers and sisters."

Coming from anyone else it would sound cloying, but Gusmao
managed to infuse some sincerity into what he said.

He was in danger of becoming too good to be true. Unembittered
after 16 years of leading a guerrilla army, seven years of
imprisonment and seven months of house arrest? Was it possible?

The next day Gusmao was interviewed on Radio Australia, where
he was asked to name the people he would never forgive.

"At first, Benny Moerdani and Soeharto. But after several
years, I found that I had forgiven them. Now, the two people I
hate most are Zacky Anwar and Adam Damiri, for what they made
their soldiers do to my people. Maybe in 10 years time I'll be
able to greet them, when East Timor has been reconstructed. But
not now."

The man is human, after all.

The writer is a Melbourne-based journalist and novelist.