Timorese mixed on country's future

Timorese mixed on country's future

Associated Press, Jakarta

Post-independence confidence in East Timor has declined, with nearly 40 percent of East Timorese saying they feel worse off now than under Indonesian rule and less than half optimistic about the future, according to a survey.

However, most of the 1,561 surveyed by the nonpartisan International Republican Institute voiced confidence in their government, with 90 percent describing the presidency as good or excellent, and positive appraisals of 75 percent for the courts, 67 percent for Parliament and 53 percent for the prime minister's office.

The poll comes as East Timor is wrestling with a stagnant economy and doubts over the government's ability to run the country after the United Nations departs next year. The survey is based on a representative national sample with an error margin of 2.6 percent.

"Things aren't perfect here," Deborah White, the institute's country director, told The Associated Press on Friday.

"People have said there are problems with this and that," she said. "But when they rated institutions, people overwhelming rated them good or excellent. It says to me that there is still confidence in these institutions. People are willing to give the government a chance to solve these problems."

According to the U.S.-funded annual survey, 42 percent of respondents felt East Timor was better off since the country became independent in 2001, while 38.9 percent felt it was worse off. Another 17.2 percent felt the country had not changed.

More significantly, the percentage of Timorese who voiced optimism about the country's future dropped from 75 percent last year to 48 percent this year. However, only 30 percent felt the country was headed in the wrong direction.

Respondents said their concerns about the future were fueled by unresolved problems, with 65 percent saying corruption had worsened since independence and 43 percent saying the economy had deteriorated.

However, Timorese said that freedom, security and the educational system had improved since independence.

Indonesia's brutal 24-year occupation ended in 1999.