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.