On threshold of independence

The announcement of the results of the recent peaceful and free general election in East Timor has placed the people there at the threshold of an independent state with the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (Fretilin) leading. The popular 27-year-old party, which ceaselessly fought for independence since the departure of the Portuguese colonial authorities in 1974 and annexation by Indonesia in 1976, won 57.3 percent of the overall vote or 55 out of 88 seats in the first poll. According to provisional results announced by the United Nations on Thursday, Fretilin's gain fell short of the two-thirds majority required to approve decisions.

There have been claims by smaller parties of intimidation by Fretilin, but judging by the total of 384,248 voters, or 91.3 percent of those eligible, who went to last week's polls, the allegation could be regarded as baseless. Before the general election, several political parties emerged in the former Portuguese colony -- which local people call Timor Loro Sa'e -- but only three are regarded as the big players. Apart from Fretilin there is the Democratic Party, led by Fernando de Araujo, a nationalist who spent six and a half years in Jakarta's Cipinang Penitentiary with Fretilin leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao. The third group is the Social Democratic Party led by Mario Viegas Carrascalao, who, for 10 years, was the Indonesian governor in Dili until 1999. But with the victory of Fretilin many believe that Xanana, a reluctant politician, will lead East Timor toward a democratic future. The country will soon set up a 60-seat constituent assembly, which will draft a constitution.

In leading a nation with a myriad of economic problems, Xanana will have to pick the most acceptable figures from inside and outside his party. For sure, the first government of East Timor will face financial problems even though the Portuguese government has promised to finance the East Timor administration for its first five years.

East Timor has long been known as a virtually barren area. Its main product is coffee, but it can hardly support the whole economy.

According to data collected by the United Nations, East Timor's per capita GDP is no more than US$304, and half of its population still lives below the absolute poverty line of $1 a day.

There will be oil exploration but the treaty with Australia on sharing fossil-fuel revenues, which was signed recently, will not guarantee immediate fiscal sufficiency, foreign observers believe. Anyway, an independent East Timor will urgently need foreign aid for at least 10 to 15 years.

We, in Indonesia, sincerely welcome the birth of this nation and are convinced that as a democratic nation Timor Loro Sa'e will become a good and brotherly neighbor. Although the territory was annexed in 1976 and remained our 27th province until 1999, Xanana has repeatedly shown to the world that ever since East Timor seceded from Indonesia he has regarded our leaders as respectable neighbors. Hopefully Xanana and the East Timorese can accept the bitter experience under Indonesian rule not as a time of animosity but as a catalyst of their sense of patriotism.