Message from Gusmao to the world and Indonesia
Message from Gusmao to the world and Indonesia
Xanana Gusmao, President, East Timor, Dili
If 92 countries are gathered today here, it is because the settlement of the question of East Timor was the responsibility of the international community.
Therefore, your presence here is the most eloquent testimony of the universal values enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, and is equally an unequivocal affirmation of the fundamental rights of the peoples.
I would dare call this magnificent participation from so many countries, coming from the four corners of the world, and which honors and exalts the birth of our country, a mini-Assembly of the millennium. Unlike the events of September 2000, we are not here today to debate the pressing problems of mankind. Today you are witnesses of the resolve to build the democratic foundations of development for the entirety of the Timorese society. And today, you are witnesses of the hope of a future, based on the active and permanent struggle against poverty in all its forms.
Today, with humility and before the international community, we take upon ourselves the obligations toward our people. We wanted to be ourselves, we wanted to take pride in being ourselves, a people and a nation.
Today, with your assistance, we are effectively what we have always striven to be. The list of acknowledgements would be long, and it would make a special reference to the courage of president B.J.Habibie, the efforts of Prime Minister John Howard and to the decision of president Bill Clinton.
Today we are a people, standing on equal footing with all other people in the world. On the celebration of independence, we wish to take upon ourselves this commitment before your: To work solely and exclusively for our people.
History is made by the people, united in a common aspiration -- freedom, peace for the people and development of the country. After our political independence, our supreme objective will the comprehensive development of all aspects of the life of our people, from the cultural to the scientific, from the social to the economic.
Our history will continue to be made by our people, for the dignity of the human being, in the tolerance among groups and in the respect among the communities, in the collective and dynamic participation of society. This will be our new philosophy as citizens, our new culture as a country, and our policy as East Timorese.
To the international solidarity, we extend a profound word of thanks from our people. We continue to count on you, to receive other forms of support geared towards alleviating the hardships of our most needy populations and to the strengthening of the ties of friendship among peoples.
The access to the rights to self-determination and national independence on Aug. 30, 1999 was the corollary of the struggle of a group of peoples who had among them profound ties of a historic and cultural identity. Today, I wish publicly to pay homage to the Portuguese Organs of Sovereignty for having made, through the Constitution, East Timor and its people as their own national cause.
In this era of globalization there are a tendencies leaning towards the standardization of the way of thinking, the behaviors and the attitudes. In relation is East Timor, there are doubts regarding our identity. Our tendency is to accommodate ourselves under a false vision of the future; a tendency for us to subvert to ventures of easy intellectual and economic consumption, where we would lose ourselves as a drop in the ocean.
The independence we have just attained is only a step for us to affirm ourselves. But affirmation itself is a process, equally challenging, from now on. This will be one of the significant challenges of the future. Let us attempt to start first by not being ashamed of ourselves, having our own historic and cultural identity, which formed the bases of our emancipation and which were the foundation of your unequivocal and unconditional support.
Your Excellency President Megawati Soekarnoputri, brotherly people of Indonesia,
We warmly welcome your presence here among us, not only in your capacity as the head of state of the brotherly and neighboring country with which we share common borders, but also as a symbol of the democratic yearnings of the brotherly people of Indonesia.
The victory of the Timorese people is also an expression of these aspirations, for democracy presupposes that there is freedom, and freedom calls for respect for the fundamental rights of the peoples.
The Indonesian people and the Timorese people have endured 24 years of difficult relations. Today, we all agree that the strains in our dealings was a result of a historical mistake, which now belongs to history and to the past. And this past, because it already has a rightful place in history, should not continue to stain our spirits or to hamper our attitudes and conduct.
In November 1999, when the sentiments from both sides still found themselves in the midst of intolerance, accusations and moral and psychological discomforts, we went to Jakarta to assert that the past should be perceived as the past and to simultaneously affirm our willingness to, together, build a new future in the relations between the two countries and two peoples.
I believe, that Indonesia and East Timor will be able to prove to the world, as they have already proven over the last two and half years, that whenever there is political will on the part of the leaders, and society in general, peace can be built on solid foundations throughout the world. Indonesia and East Timor are already contributing, although they can still contribute to the attainment of today's world peace in a very significant manner, where we all witness an atmosphere of mistrust, of fear, of acts of terror and of accusations.
The Timorese people now wishes to concentrate their attention to their self development. East Timor is the poorest country in Asia and we wish to raise, gradually but steadily, the quality of life of our populations. The cooperation between Indonesia and East Timor, which reflects a broad range of common interests and is strengthened by strong ties of friendship between the two peoples, shall be the safe antidote to some of the opposition that still prevail from both sides.
The two people should contribute to the construction of a better world. Lastly, allow me to salute all Indonesian citizens, who whether individually or collectively, made large contributions in the past and in the present, to all this process in East Timor that culminates now in this great event.
Earth and stones, fire and water!!!
Sacred land, sacred places where we planted betel leaves and nuts,
Beloved land, place of birth, where we were raised.
Timor Lorosa'e!
Matebian, place where we see the sunrises and watch Jaco.
Ramelau, place where we see Oekussi and watch Atauro.
Independence!
As a people, as a territory, as a nation!
One body, one mind, one wish!
Warriors!
Drums and swords, feathers and tais!
Prisoners, dancers, resistance fighters!
Tasi feto, Tasi Mane!
Old man and old women, men and women, rejoice.
Youth, children, sing loud!
East, West!
Today is our day, Independence day!
Join hands, and look to the future!
Beloved people of Timor Lorosa'e!
The world is with us today, celebrating with us, showing their love and their support for us. As a nation that we now stand, beginning from now, as an independent nation, we now hold in our hands, the right to govern ourselves, and with this we take all the responsibilities, we are answerable to the world community which forms the state members of the United Nations.
Today, we rejoice, as independent nation, governing our own destiny. Holding our own reins, we will improve our day to day living and we will build our nation. Independence, today, will continue to mean enjoying our freedom in difficult times.
Therefore, we will make every effort towards reconciliation, to reinforce the national unity, we will improve our new nationalism, learning to form opinion, wait, seek and participate.
Our independence will have no value, if all the people in Timor Lorosa'e, continue to live in poverty and continue to suffer all kinds of difficulties. We gained our independence to improve our lives. Because of this, we are celebrating our independence. I remind everyone, especially the leaders, discipline to affirm our power, tolerance to affirm democracy, reconciliation to affirm unity, within justice and human rights environment.
The article is an excert of the President's state address at the new state's declaration of independence on May 20.