Friday, March 16, 2007
Reader's Comments
From timor2 RE Australian academics helped to spread the rumor mill which deepened the crisis in Timor-Leste
I think the intent of this article is not to justify whether there was a massacre. The author validly raises the need for academics or anyone observing the issues in Timor Leste to take an objective rather than a subjective view on the crisis in Timor Leste. It challenges people not to look at a superficial view of Timor Leste or on the contexts of good v‘s evil or truth v’s lies and rumours. Many people jumped the gun and took the rumour of Tasi Tolu as a fact and began to criticise and demonise the FFDTL and the Government without seeking information from other sources. The result of the “independent” findings on the Tasi Tolu “massacre” clearly has highlighted that misinformation or unreliable information that is abundant in Timor Leste and we all have to be weary of this and ensure that attempts are made to investigate an allegation rather than pure reliance on word of mouth.
Irrespective of wether it was constitutional or not, as a Timorese who witnessed the April 28 2006 ransacking of Dili by the Petitioners and their supporters, based on the circumstances of what was happening, I believe and fully support the Governments decision to bring out the FFDTL to calm the situation.
The Police unresponsiveness the events in April is of grave concern not only for the Government but the citizens of Timor, whose symbols of governance were attacked (Gov cars and Gov building, intolerable in any western country) and private possessions were also destroyed (peoples cars and homes, intolerable in any society).
The communication network was down which made it difficult for the Government to coordinate anything with the President. I agree that there are other avenues of contacting the President but they are time consuming and not tested because of the gravity of the situation which needed a quick and decisive reponse. The main concern of the Government has to be resolving the situation in urgency before it escalated further rather than contacting an uncontactable President.
I don’t think there is a concession at all; it is clearly evident the author tries to balance both sides of the argument in regards to the Governments actions and emphasise that the FFDTL call out is a problem that can be resolved politically and not through defaming anyone, or supporting armed thugs like Alfredo.
The calling out of the FFDTL did result in relative calm in Dili, the Petitioners retreated to Ermera. The Government had made a plan to rebuild properties destroyed and again called for continuing negotiations (which mind you have been going on since January 2006, the main cause for failures in negotiation is because of the unwillingness of the Petitioners to resolve their grievances). Alfredo to many observers surprise abandoned his post and retreated to Aileu claiming that he received orders to shoot down the Petitioners and that he was demonstrating also against a “massacre” at Tasi Tolu (Both claims unfounded). Rumours that the FFDTL massacred 100 people in Tasi Tolu were being disseminated by the opposition and some Academics both Timorese and Australian which contributed to the already tense climate. The “so called” negotiations between Xanana, Horta and Alfredo never reolved in anything and in May, clear concerted attacks were made on the FFDTL at Dili with the protagonist being Alfredo and Rai Los.
No the 2007 elections will not be a magic wand and at the instance resolve the crisis. But a good turnout at the elections signals the belief of the people in the notion of nationhood and hence counters the damages of some of the divisions that may have been created during the crisis. A good turnout demonstrates that there is confidence in Timor Leste and will emphasise that Timor is not a failed state that some people want it to be. Many Timorese suspect that the East/West divide was a superficial problem used as a political tool, hence why the clashes between “Eastern” and “Western” youths have died down and now we see the problems associated with “Gangs” not divided by regional allegiances emphasising another belief that the insecurity in Dili is being superficially created. Of paramount importance to ending the crisis is that all political organisations accept the result of the elections.
To resolve this crisis one must know what the underlying causes are, I suspect the Timorese know who the protagonists are and what were the political motivations behind the crisis, they will be the ones that will end up not gaining the sympathy of the voters in the next elections.
I think the intent of this article is not to justify whether there was a massacre. The author validly raises the need for academics or anyone observing the issues in Timor Leste to take an objective rather than a subjective view on the crisis in Timor Leste. It challenges people not to look at a superficial view of Timor Leste or on the contexts of good v‘s evil or truth v’s lies and rumours. Many people jumped the gun and took the rumour of Tasi Tolu as a fact and began to criticise and demonise the FFDTL and the Government without seeking information from other sources. The result of the “independent” findings on the Tasi Tolu “massacre” clearly has highlighted that misinformation or unreliable information that is abundant in Timor Leste and we all have to be weary of this and ensure that attempts are made to investigate an allegation rather than pure reliance on word of mouth.
Irrespective of wether it was constitutional or not, as a Timorese who witnessed the April 28 2006 ransacking of Dili by the Petitioners and their supporters, based on the circumstances of what was happening, I believe and fully support the Governments decision to bring out the FFDTL to calm the situation.
The Police unresponsiveness the events in April is of grave concern not only for the Government but the citizens of Timor, whose symbols of governance were attacked (Gov cars and Gov building, intolerable in any western country) and private possessions were also destroyed (peoples cars and homes, intolerable in any society).
The communication network was down which made it difficult for the Government to coordinate anything with the President. I agree that there are other avenues of contacting the President but they are time consuming and not tested because of the gravity of the situation which needed a quick and decisive reponse. The main concern of the Government has to be resolving the situation in urgency before it escalated further rather than contacting an uncontactable President.
I don’t think there is a concession at all; it is clearly evident the author tries to balance both sides of the argument in regards to the Governments actions and emphasise that the FFDTL call out is a problem that can be resolved politically and not through defaming anyone, or supporting armed thugs like Alfredo.
The calling out of the FFDTL did result in relative calm in Dili, the Petitioners retreated to Ermera. The Government had made a plan to rebuild properties destroyed and again called for continuing negotiations (which mind you have been going on since January 2006, the main cause for failures in negotiation is because of the unwillingness of the Petitioners to resolve their grievances). Alfredo to many observers surprise abandoned his post and retreated to Aileu claiming that he received orders to shoot down the Petitioners and that he was demonstrating also against a “massacre” at Tasi Tolu (Both claims unfounded). Rumours that the FFDTL massacred 100 people in Tasi Tolu were being disseminated by the opposition and some Academics both Timorese and Australian which contributed to the already tense climate. The “so called” negotiations between Xanana, Horta and Alfredo never reolved in anything and in May, clear concerted attacks were made on the FFDTL at Dili with the protagonist being Alfredo and Rai Los.
No the 2007 elections will not be a magic wand and at the instance resolve the crisis. But a good turnout at the elections signals the belief of the people in the notion of nationhood and hence counters the damages of some of the divisions that may have been created during the crisis. A good turnout demonstrates that there is confidence in Timor Leste and will emphasise that Timor is not a failed state that some people want it to be. Many Timorese suspect that the East/West divide was a superficial problem used as a political tool, hence why the clashes between “Eastern” and “Western” youths have died down and now we see the problems associated with “Gangs” not divided by regional allegiances emphasising another belief that the insecurity in Dili is being superficially created. Of paramount importance to ending the crisis is that all political organisations accept the result of the elections.
To resolve this crisis one must know what the underlying causes are, I suspect the Timorese know who the protagonists are and what were the political motivations behind the crisis, they will be the ones that will end up not gaining the sympathy of the voters in the next elections.
