Political reconciliation means power sharing: Abilio

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)