Solution to East Timor needed
Solution to East Timor needed
By Sebastianus Darwin
JAKARTA (JP): For the eighth time, Indonesia and Portugal met
to discuss the issue of East Timor at the UN headquarters in
Geneva on June 27. The meeting was held after both countries
failed to find a solution to the conflict in Indonesia's 27th
province at their previous meeting on Jan. 16 in London.
The Portuguese colony of East Timor has remained in the
international spotlight following its integration by Indonesia in
1976. But the world has not recognized this integration. There
are still conflicting views, especially within the UN.
Much activity continues in East Timor itself. Anti-integration
groups, including Fretilin (Frente Revolucionaria de Timor Leste
Independente or the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East
Timor), have continued to launch political maneuvers to challenge
the Indonesian occupying forces.
There have been countless demonstrations protesting
integration and a number of tragic incidents, including the Dili
incident in 1991 and the Liquisa incident last year.
So far, the government has been able to contain the troubles.
Yet that does not mean the authorities have become less vigilant,
given the continued existence of these independence movements.
There are two different attitudes concerning development in
East Timor.
The first holds that East Timor is an integral part of
Indonesia. The development model is designed by the central
government and all the regional administration has to do is
implement it.
However, due to East Timor's somewhat unusual conditions, the
centrally designed development program is often difficult to
carry out.
The other is the attitude of the East Timorese people. They
consider themselves different from people in other provinces,
according to Jao Mariano Sousa Saldhana in Political Economy of
East Timor Development.
East Timor is a former Portuguese colony, while the rest of
Indonesia was formerly under Dutch rule. This widens the gap
between East Timor and other parts of Indonesia.
Portugal ruled East Timor according to republican norms, which
were also much influenced by the Catholic church. The Dutch had a
monarchy with a mostly secular Protestant population and did not
really care about the religious life of the colonies.
The East Timorese are very aware of these differences, and
this has prevented a complete integration. The task now is to
blend the two differing views to create a win-win situation.
Various efforts have been made to settle the East Timor
problem. In mid-1995, the Indonesian Bishop Conference (KWI) met
President Soeharto to discuss the matter. Head of conference,
Mgr. Julius Darmaatmadja SJ, said after the meeting that East
Timor was not merely the problem of the Catholic church, but was
the problem of the nation as well.
The Catholic church plays an important role in trying to
settle the case, because the majority of the people are
Catholics. It should be noted, however, that since the Middle
Ages, the Catholic church has strictly separated the power of the
state and the authority of the church.
The Catholic church strictly forbids church officials,
including the bishop, from getting involved in politics.
Therefore, it would be inappropriate for Dili Bishop Mgr. Carlos
Filipe Ximenes Belo to take action to settle the East Timor case.
The geographical integration of East Timor to Indonesia should
be followed up by integration in all fields, including politics,
society, culture, religion and economics.
It is not easy to integrate all these aspects. The management
of conflicts in East Timor should take into consideration the
four points below:
1. Social conditions in East Timor are different from other
parts of Indonesia, due to 450 years of Portuguese colonial rule
in the province.
2. The majority of East Timorese are still haunted by the
trauma of the prolonged civil war.
3. There are few East Timorese who speak Indonesian.
4. There are some Fretilin members who resist Indonesian rule
on the province.
When the Portuguese hurriedly abandoned East Timor in
September 1975, Fretilin took power and proclaimed independence
toward the end of November 1975. But things changed after the
Balibo Declaration on Nov. 30, 1975, which demanded the
integration of East Timor into Indonesia. The declaration was
made by the Apodeti (Popular Democratic Association of Timorese)
and three other parties, UDT (Unitoa Democratica Timorense or
Democratic Union of Timorese), KOTA (Klibur Oan Timur Aswain,
Sons of the Mountains Warriors) and Partido Trabalhista or
Workers Party)
Economic development should be given top priority in East
Timor. Improving public welfare is essential in the management of
conflict in East Timor.
The economic development of East Timor is rapid, compared to
when it was still under Portuguese rule. The economic growth in
the past 15 years is impressive.
Despite this economic growth, East Timor's income is still
low, and so is income per capita (see table). The table shows
that between 1983 and 1990, income per capita had increased from
Rp 132,454 (1993) to Rp 180,727 (1990). This means that there was
an increase of an average of 7.29 percent per year.
Yet, compared to other provinces in Indonesia, the income per
capita of East Timor is very low. In 1990 the income per capita
was only 28 percent of the national average, which stood at about
Rp 650,000.
Economic development is only one of the factors involved in
the efforts to solve the problems of East Timor. There are still
other things to deal with, notably the military's policy toward
the province. Another important factor is the special position of
the Catholic church in the region. Without the church's
involvement, there will be no real solution to the East Timor
problem.
Table:
---------------------------------
Year Income Index
---------------------------------
1983 Rp 132,454 100
1984 Rp 132,920 100.4
1985 Rp 142.843 107.8
1986 Rp 144.141 108.8
1987 Rp 152.349 115.0
1988 Rp 160.996 121.6
1989 Rp 161.890 122.6
1990 Rp 180.727 136.5
Source: The Political Economy in East Timor Development (1994)
The writer is a socio-political observer based in Jakarta.