Political reconciliation means power sharing: Abilio

JAKARTA (JP): It is easy to say "You must forgive" when you have not had any family members killed in a war or have never been a victim of torture or intimidation. It is what the East Timorese have been hearing all these years, that they must forgive each other in order to build a new, better future together.

Are they willing to forgive each other and start anew? Can they forget the suffering during the 1975 civil war and during all these years of integration with Indonesia? These are key questions being addressed at the current Dare II talks in Jakarta sponsored by Dili Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo and Baucau Bishop Basilio do Nascimento.

The first day of the talks began on a promising note as all participants from the proindependence and prointegration camps agreed on the need for reconciliation. To reconcile means to forgive.

"We don't forget, but we are willing to forgive," former Fretilin president Abilio Araujo said in an interview with The Jakarta Post here last week.

Abilio arrived in Jakarta from Portugal on June 16 to attend the second Dare meeting as an observer and then to visit his mother and relatives in East Timor, which he left in 1971 before the 1975 civil war.

An initiator of reconciliation among East Timorese, Abilio stresses that reconciliation is a main condition for a peaceful and fair ballot in August, when the East Timorese will decide whether to remain part of Indonesia and accept a wide-ranging autonomy offer from President B.J. Habibie or whether they want independence.

"Reconciliation is a human feeling, Christian or religious sentiment. But then we also have political reconciliation. It is a question of how to apply this human and religious feeling in our political and daily life. Forgiveness has political implications, that is to share power," he said.

This means that whatever the outcome in the August ballot, those whose aspirations are met should accommodate those who voted the other way and allow the latter's participation in a democratic government.

Unfortunately, said Abilio, the tripartite agreement signed on May 5 in New York by Indonesia, Portugal and the United Nations does not provide space for those whose aspirations are not met.

"For me the agreement is only good for the three parties who signed it. The East Timorese were not involved in the discussion of the agreement, that's why there are so many problems today," said Abilio, who claimed that he was the only one who criticized the agreement on the day it was signed.

"CNRT (National Resistance Council for an Independent East Timor) supported it, different members of CNRT supported it. But I see now many of them have started to criticize it," said the former Fretilin leader, whose disagreement with his commander in chief Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao became internationally known in 1993 after Abilio began the long path to reconciliation by initiating a debate on the matter.

Despite his criticism of the May 5 agreement, Abilio agrees that the ballot must go on.

"At this stage, it is crucial that peace and stability be restored as a precondition to a fair, free and democratic consultation. The violence that occurred in past months originated from both sides. That's why I welcomed the peace agreement signed last week by the rival factions. It should serve as a starting point to reach this peace. The agreement is also good because it refers to the need to have a code of conduct between all political players," he said.

More important than the peace agreement is the need to reconcile and the need to accept the decision that comes out as the result of the ballot.

"I think it is possible for the East Timorese to reconcile, especially if we have an attitude of finding a consensus through dialog and reconciliation through a win-win solution because historically in East Timor we never had a king, we did not have one unique entity that led East Timor. Before Portuguese colonialization of East Timor we were already divided. Precolonial East Timor was ruled by small kingdoms and the Portuguese only took advantage of the situation," he said.

According to Abilio, it is time that the East Timorese accept some kind of mechanism that will unite them.

"I believe democracy has its virtues, all of us has to accept some type of mechanism and it is democracy. So, as we go to the ballot, all of us have to prepare to accept the consequences," said Abilio, who was elected Fretilin president in 1981 to replace Nicolao Lobato, who was killed in 1978.

"In a democracy, the winner should realize that those who lose must have their rights. The majority cannot start a period of dictatorship. The minority, on the other hand, has to be prepared to accept defeat," he added.

Abilio, who was reelected Fretilin president in 1984, is also aware of the perception of the international community, the international press in particular, of the situation in East Timor.

"I know from my own experience that there are some journalists and editors who have a preconceived standpoint, that is independence, because it was in the tradition of being anti- Soeharto. I don't refer to the Indonesian press, but the foreign media always try to project proindependence supporters as angels and prointegration people as devils. I think both are Timorese of the first class," said Abilio.

He said if the international community, including the press, really wanted to help the East Timorese they have to help create a condition for the East Timorese to choose freely, even if they choose to continue with Indonesia but under a new structure of administration like wide-ranging autonomy for economic and security reasons.

"I think that options are there to be taken based on all these implications. Then we cannot say the people are not free. If the people say 'We cannot be independent because who will protect us, because we are in a global economy, it is useless to have a new central bank, needless to issue passports to East Timorese to go to Kupang or Bali because people are used to going freely,' then these are the ingredients that need to be taken into account by the voters. And it does not mean that by thinking like that they are not free," Abilio said.

In this context it is important for the interests of the Indonesian government to do whatever it can to keep stability and tranquility in East Timor prior and during the ballot.

"Then, if the prointegration camp wins, no one will blame Indonesia and accuse it of foul play. Besides, there will be international observers to witness the voting," he said.

The long road to reconciliation among the East Timorese began after the Dili massacre on Nov. 12, 1991. Abilio Araujo, as president of Fretilin, then launched a debate on Reconciliation of the East Timorese.

"In 1993, I took the initiative as head of Fretilin to invite Lopes da Cruz, now the Indonesian ambassador at large for East Timor affairs, and other East Timorese who are for integration to meet us abroad. The second meeting took place in 1994 in Chepstow, the United Kingdom, and was attended by (then) United Nations special envoy for East Timor Samuel Tamrat. It was after that meeting that the United Nations organized the All-Inclusive Intra East Timorese Dialog (AIETD) in Austria," he said.

Since the beginning of the reconciliation process, Abilio has fought for the "Third Way" option, a concept on how to reach a global settlement of the East Timor question.

In 1994 Abilio, on behalf of other Fretilin leaders who supported reconciliation, petitioned the Indonesian government -- stating that East Timor should have a special status taking into account its distinct political and historical background -- for a reduction in troops, the release of all political prisoners including Xanana, as well as the introduction of the Tetun and the Portuguese languages and the history of East Timor at schools.

"At that time, for us the Third Way was a compromise against Fretilin's demand for a referendum," said Abilio, who fought for total independence for many years before he arrived at the compromise.

In 1996, Abilio met president Soeharto and submitted his Third Way proposal.

"We met at his office and he talked about what the government had done in East Timor. When I mentioned the petition, he went quiet and then asked if I had been to East Timor. Later I said to myself that it was his way of saying I knew nothing about East Timor," said Abilio.

He dismissed criticism that the six AIETD meetings were a failure because participants were not allowed to touch on political issues.

"We talked about political matters. What we did not do, and this was my proposal, was talk about the status of East Timor, because if we did, one group would insist that East Timor was already under Indonesia, while the other would say that it was a non-self-governing entity under Portugal. Then we would achieve nothing," said Abilio.

An important aspect of the AIETD meetings was that it enabled members of the rival factions to sit together and talk.

"Before, I could not see da Cruz and Abilio Soares (East Timor governor) and they could not see me. Ramos-Horta also came and talked to them and we started to talk to each other," said Abilio.

Another achievement of the AIETD was that East Timorese living abroad could visit East Timor and those residing in East Timor could go abroad and return. Also, the government began easing its policy on East Timorese who sought asylum in various embassies in Jakarta.

"Previously they were forced to return to East Timor, but after my meeting with Soeharto, they were allowed to leave the country," he said.

Abilio, however, acknowledged failures of the AIETD participants to reach an agreement on his proposed middle way.

"I blame CNRT for this, especially in the last meeting in 1998, when Jamsheed Marker (current special envoy for East Timor) came and gave us the United Nations' proposal on autonomy and asked for our input. I was ready to give my contribution, but Ramos-Horta simply refused to discuss it. Other CNRT leaders also decided to reject any discussion on the issue and in my opinion they simply cut off every possibility that we had to find a compromise," Abilio recalled.

Unfortunately, his Third Way option further widened the rift between him and Xanana, with whom he parted ways in 1989 after he criticized Xanana's strategy. Then, Xanana, commander in chief of Falintil, Fretilin's armed faction, was Abilio's second in command.

"There were differences in political strategy and the split (between us) became known internationally when I decided to go for reconciliation. The Fretilin was split, with one part taking sides with Xanana and the other supporting reconciliation," said Abilio.

In his opinion, in this era of globalization and of interdependency, and also taking into account the process of democratization that is now taking place in Indonesia, the autonomy package can get between 50 percent and 90 percent of the vote.

"Democratization and decentralization are two sides of the same coin. Deep in my heart and in the hearts of other East Timorese and people in other provinces, we want independence. However, when we think of our stomachs and are realistic, then (we know) autonomy under Indonesia is the best option," said Abilio.

"To be very frank, I'd like to say that now all of them (East Timorese) are for autonomy," said Abilio, who stressed that the autonomy package should not be seen as a gift.

"People might have the impression that autonomy is an offer, a gift from the Indonesian government to the East Timorese. In fact, autonomy has been demanded by people like me for many years, real autonomy, international standard autonomy. And we think that the autonomy is also a result of the suffering and sacrifices of the East Timorese people from both sides. That's why I disagree when people say it is an offer from Indonesia," he said. (lem)