PPP legislators reject referendum call in East Timor

PPP legislators reject referendum call in East Timor

JAKARTA (JP): The 20-year dispute over East Timor will only be solved by referendum, a constitutional law expert told members of the United Development Party faction at the House of Representatives yesterday.

Muchtar Pakpahan, who is also chief of the banned Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union (SBSI), told the legislators that there is no need for Indonesia to maintain East Timor's integration as long as disputes continue to cause economic and political problems for the country.

Since much money has been poured into the province, and given that many countries still do not recognize Indonesia's sovereignty over East Timor, Indonesia must take the brave step of ending the dispute by holding a referendum, he said.

"The 20-year problem will go on unless there is a democratically held referendum to decide whether East Timor should be integrated or free from Indonesia," Pakpahan told the four members of the faction.

The four legislators told Pakpahan that a referendum is not relevant to solving the problem, and that the same economic and political problems found in East Timor are also found in other parts of Indonesia, such as Irian Jaya.

"Holding a referendum will inflict a loss on Indonesia, strategically and politically," said Jusuf Syakir, one of the legislators. The House of Representatives, he reminded, was involved in finalizing the integration process.

Referendum is also one of the chief demands of Portugal in its negotiations through the United Nations to resolve East Timor's international status.

The Indonesian government has rejected the proposal. It says that a referendum was held in 1976 when several East Timorese tribal leaders, representing the majority of East Timorese, pronounced their desire to integrate with Indonesia.

According to Pakpahan, a referendum would be consistent with the country's basic ideology, which includes freedom, peace and social justice.

Pakpahan also reported on the Youth Solidarity Group of East Timor conference in Lisbon, Portugal, which he attended on Feb.22-24.

The 400 participants were mostly East Timorese living in Portugal, including those who had just arrived from Indonesia.

There were also legislators and activists from non- governmental organizations and human rights groups from various countries.

The conference decided to proceed with the efforts to put the East Timor issue on the United Nations' agenda, Pakpahan said.

Similar meetings are being planned for Australia, the United States, Ireland, Sweden, Malaysia and Britain this year, he said.

Pakpahan told the legislators that the message he got from the meeting was that most of the East Timorese in Portugal are not anti-government.

"They said they could not stand the military's cruelty towards the East Timorese people," he said. (03)