Wednesday, June 14, 2006
SBS Dateline: Timor Gap widens...
Archives - June 14, 2006
Timor Gap Widens
Three weeks ago our man David O'Shea got caught right in the middle of the cross-fire in East Timor. He survived that hairy ordeal to tell the tale you are about to see. What the heck is the fracas in East Timor all about? As David tells it, what we are witnessing right now in the world's newest nation, is a good old-fashioned political power struggle.
REPORTER: David O'Shea
It's one week before the shooting started and East Timor's ruling Fretilin Party is holding its second congress. Most of the delegates here played a role in the clandestine struggle against the Indonesian occupation. The Fretilin brand name is so strong that control of the party means control of East Timor. Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri is one of the party's founding members he is Secretary-General of Fretilin, but his grip might be slipping. Alkatiri hopes to be elected to another 5-year term but I'm here because rumours are swirling that he's going to be dumped. Despite hundreds of rebel soldiers in the hills outside Dili demanding his resignation, the Prime Minister seems confident on the first day of the congress.
REPORTER; You must be feeling a little bit worried about your future in Fretilin?
MARI ALKATIRI, PRIME MINISTER: I'll never be worried, never.
Where do you get your confidence from?
From the people. For sure, I am here because I was elected by the people.
But Mari Alkatiri is more of a man of the party than a man of the people. He hasn't spent a lot of time amongst his people since the 1970s. After the Indonesian invasion of East Timor, he lived in what was then communist Mozambique, that's their ambassador he's talking to. There's also a representative here from the communist party of Portugal. The only other ambassadors here are from China, chasing business and influence, and Cuba.
That's Castro's man in the blue, working the floor, winning hearts with Cuban T-shirts.
The contest for control of Fretilin is a battle between the party's left-wing anti-colonial faction and those who are more pro-Western. Mari Alkatiri's challenger for Fretilin Secretary-General is Jose Luis Guterres - East Timor's Ambassador to the United States.
REPORTER: Morning sir. Hi. How are you today? Looking forward to this?
JOSE LUIS GUTERRES, EAST TIMOR'S AMBASSADOR TO THE US: Yes, yes, yes, it is important for the country, for the people and for my party.
What are we expecting - any fighting, drama?
JOSE LUIS GUTERRES: No, no, no, no, no. It's a normal competition between parties and I believe we will do our best to guarantee that everything will be peaceful.
On his right is running-mate George Teme, the former ambassador to Australia. Both Australia and America have a strong interest in who rules East Timor. Alkatiri drove a hard bargain with Australia over rights to oil and gas in the Timor Gap and he's refused loans from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. The revolutionary left clearly has the numbers here.
PROTESTER (Translation): Long live independent East Timor! Long live Fretilin! Long live the Central Committee! The fight continues! Down with division!
But East Timor was already dividing, although there were no signs of it here. Almost a third of the country's armed forces had rebelled against the government, yet the congress revolved around small points of procedure.
MAN ON MICROPHONE (Translation): Whenever an article doesn't need changing it shouldn't be open for discussion, otherwise everyone will want to intervene and the problem will never be resolved.
Privately, delegates accused Alkatiri of ignoring the brewing crisis. Publicly, he was being undermined by his Foreign Minister, Jose Ramos Horta, a darling of the West.
JOSE RAMOS HORTA, FOREIGN MINISTER: He is obviously not the best communicator I am not saying with the international media even with our own people, in the country. He is not the best communicator with the opposition in four years, now, he has not met with the opposition, so that contributes to his poor popular image.
REPORTER: So how was the first day?
MARI ALKATIRI: I am telling you that I will talk on the last day.
Watching the current Ambassador to Australia partying, at the end of the first day, you'd never guess the government was facing its biggest crisis since independence. The first sign of trouble was in March, when almost 600 soldiers went on strike. All were from the Loromonu people, the ethnic group based in the west of this tiny country, and they complained that promotions always went to Lorosae soldiers from the east. They were sacked by Prime Minister Alkatiri, and, on April 24, they marched on Dili to appeal directly to the President, Xanana Gusmao.
LIEUTENANT GASTAO SALSINHA (Translation): There must be a solution in five days. If there isn't we'll find another way.
The 591 rebel soldiers are led by a former Lieutenant Gastao Salsinha.
LIEUTENANT GASTAO SALSINHA (Translation): We are ready to die to defend justice, until we have our rights back.
The protest was then hijacked by youths from the west who supported the rebel soldiers. They trashed market stalls, run by women from the east, raising the ugly spectre of ethnic division for the first time since the civil war of 1975. The rebel soldiers did try to stop them. It's still unclear whether or not someone else was giving orders to the mob.
WOMAN (Translation) The leaders created this mess. They have to clean it up. Let them sort this out. We thought the war was over. We've had enough. The leaders put all their friends in the government. Then these people come and destroy our stalls.
SOLDIER (Translation): We must change our mentality, and learn self control.
Despite their best efforts, the rebel soldiers failed to stop their supporters from rioting again.
On April 28, police opened fire outside the government offices, killing five. The rebel soldiers and their supporters retreated to the suburb of Tasi Tolo, on the outskirts of the capital. The Prime Minister then took an extraordinary step - calling out the army, who sealed off the area. Shooting was heard for two days and dozens of houses were burned to the ground. The rebels accuse the army of killing 60 people.
On the 28th of April, after fighting all around Dili, and in particular down here in Tasi Tolo, President Xanana Gusmao came here in the middle of the night and tried to get down here to find out what was happening but was stopped at a roadblock set up by the FFDTL - the defence force. Now he is their supreme commander and they didn't let him pass, so this was the first challenge to presidential authority during this crisis. There have been reports of tension between the Prime Minister and the President for several years. Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta, a key ally of the President, told me Alkatiri's decision to call out the army was unconstitutional.
JOSE RAMOS HORTA: That's true. The decision was made by the Prime Minister, without prior consultation and agreement with the President.
REPORTER: Well that's very, very serious isn't it?
JOSE RAMOS HORTA: I believe so, but the Prime Minister had his reasons an emergency situation. He was not able to get in touch with the President. But, still, I believe that, if he was not able to reach the President on the phone, there was a real breakdown of the phone system, it wouldn't be too difficult to get into the car and go to the President's office.
But have you spoken to the President? He must be very upset or annoyed or angry about this?
JOSE RAMOS HORTA: He is rightly upset, he is rightly wounded that he was not consulted and that was not the first time. The President was upset also that his opinion was not listened to when the Minister of Defence fired almost 600 soldiers.
With the Prime Minister and army command accused of a massacre in Tasi Tolo - revenge attacks against government forces were now inevitable. It's May 8, and government offices are under attack in Ermera, the rebel base in the west of the country. This is the same mob who trashed Dili 10 days ago and they've just heard the Prime Minister has sent an envoy here. But the real targets of their anger are the six eastern policemen he brought with him.
MAN (Translation) Don't destroy the cars go and look for the people.
Inside the building, the six policemen hide in the bathroom. The policeman on the left would soon be dead.
MAN ON MOBILE PHONE (Translation): The priest is here but everything we had here is destroyed. There's no means to stop them. It's a matter of life or death.
MAN #2: It's too emotional. They want to kill our brothers here from the east. It's unacceptable.
The rebel soldiers send someone to negotiate.
MAN #3: They are offended because our their have been killed and you've come with the enemy.
MAN #4: No, not the enemy. The Prime Minister asked me to come because he heard you were going to boycott the government. If that's the case then I'm sorry.
A deal is brokered to get the six policemen out safely. They hand their guns to the police commander - a westerner.
MILITARY OFFICIAL (Translation): The commander has disarmed them. Their weapons are state property, they'll be stored in the warehouse.
PRIEST (Translation) Please give way and let us take them out. If you were in their situation they'd do the same for your people.
Rocks are thrown as the policemen are bundled into a waiting car. Two of the men fall from the car and are stabbed, one dies and the other is seriously injured. This was a clear sign that ethnic tensions were out of control and that security forces were dividing along ethnic lines.
While the Fretilin congress discussed points of order, I travelled to Ermera to meet the leader of the rebel soldiers. The rebels' campaign is clearly popular here. With his base overflowing with gifts from sympathetic locals, Lieutenant Salsinha tells me he's calling for an investigation into what happened in Tasi Tolo.
LIEUTENANT GASTAO SALSINHA (Translation): We demand that the government deals with the events of the 28th because there were many people killed.
Salsinha warned that if this was not done there would be more trouble.
LIEUTENANT GASTAO SALSINHA: Of course we don't want riots or unrest. A country only becomes independent once, not twice. So many people gave their lives so that we could obtain independence. We really don't want any more civilian casualties. So we are demanding that the government deal with the current situation, which is at crisis point.
Unfortunately, no-one seemed to be listening. Like Prime Minister Alkatiri, but perhaps for different reasons, Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta was still playing down the crisis.
JOSE RAMOS HORTA: This is, after all, a country of only four years old. So not surprising that, as we emerge from the past, we face hurdles, hiccups along the way. What is necessary is that our government shows more humility and engage more in dialogue with everybody and anyone who comes forward with complaints, with criticisms.
On the second day of the Fretilin Congress, Ramos Horta is a surprise visitor. As a founding member, he gets a warm welcome, even though he left the party 15 years ago. Ramos Horta likes to say he has no further political ambitions, but he can't resist a joke at Alkatiri's expense.
JOSE RAMOS HORTA (Translation): Before you elect a delegate to the Central Committee will you permit me to give my input? I want to know if I too can be a candidate for Secretary-General. Some have accused me of wanting to take over from Kofi Annan.
A few weeks later, with Alkatiri accused of trying to murder his opponents, Horta again offered to take his place. This time he was serious. Today, Fretilin delegates are preparing to vote on whether to have a secret or an open ballot for the party leadership. Mari Alkatiri's supporters want a show of hands. That way they'll know exactly who is for and against the Secretary-General.
WOMAN #1 (Translation): There are no Indonesians here. They're gone. We all defend the Fretilin Party. This is a historic party - that's why we shouldn't be afraid to vote for whoever we want just raise your hand.
WOMAN #2: I don't accept a show of hands, a show of hands is a way of pressuring us. A show of hands could lead to someone hating us. That's why I don't accept the proposal and I support a secret ballot. Thank you.
The challenger, Jose Luis Guterres, believes Alkatiri is trying to orchestrate an open ballot in order to intimidate the opposition.
JOSE LUIS GUTERRES, FRETILIN LEADERSHIP CHALLENGER: The question is that some people have told me that some are afraid of showing their vote because some of them are working as civil servants and so they are afraid to be sacked if, in the congress, they vote different to their President and Secretary-General.
GEORGE TEME (Translation): In 1974, when I was in my primary school, the first election for school prefect was a show of hands. But democracy in the new millennium is different. We're only asking for our rights.
MAN: Comrade George, you are now 30 seconds over time. Silence! I won't give you more time to speak. I won't give you more time for discussion I am putting the proposal to a vote.
When it's decided to have a show of hands, everyone knows Alkatiri will win and Jose Luis Guterres withdraws from the race.
REPORTER: Congratulations Secretary-General.
MARI ALKATIRI: Why? Because we are close to the end but still we are not at the end.
REPORTER: But isn't it a done deal, now, that you will be Secretary-General again, because there is no opposition candidate?
MARI ALKATIRI: It's very unfortunate. I would like to have another go.
Another what?
MARI ALKATIRI: Another to apply for.
You mean you would like to have an opposition candidate?
MARI ALKATIRI: Of course, of course.
Why is that?
MARI ALKATIRI: It's a democracy.
So is it a bad thing for democracy that there is no opposition candidate?
MARI ALKATIRI: Not at all. But it would be better if you can really go until the end. When you decided to go you must keep going to the end.
With the challengers' chairs now empty it appears Mari Alkatiri has out-manoeuvred his opponents once more.
MARI ALKATIRI: If you all want a secret ballot, that's what we'll have. I am not afraid. If you're afraid to vote with a show of hands, Why? I'll tell you all right now, I did not buy your votes. I want to tell you, I have not paid a cent for your votes.
When it was time for the vote, the delegates of all 13 districts stood to be counted and it was soon clear that Alkatiri and his running-mate had won almost unanimous support. The attempt to dislodge him peacefully had failed but the celebrations were short-lived.
Four days later I was with the rebel soldiers when they fired on government troops. Mari Alkatiri accuses his unnamed enemies of mounting a coup against him. There is no hard evidence to back-up his claim. But if someone wanted to get rid of Alkatiri, they couldn't have planned things better, the President's power and influence has grown and the Prime Minister faces daily charges of conspiracy to murder his opponents.
David O'Shea on the real crisis in East Timor, politics within politics.
Reporter/Camera: David O'Shea Field Producer and additional camera: Jose Belo Editor: Wayne Love Producer: Amos Cohen EP: Mike Carey
