Challenges to Political and Economic Stability in East Timor - Research Paper Example

Challenges to Political and Economic Stability in East Timor of the of the Word Count: 3226 Challenges toPolitical and Economic Stability in East Timor East Timor or Timor-Leste has a turbulent history and is still haunted by its troublesome past. The nation was the colony of Portugal for more than three centuries since 1640s, and then fell under the rule of Indonesia for 27 years before finally gaining independence in 2002. Though rich in natural resources and oil, this nation is one of the poorest nations in the world1. East Timor has rich offshore natural gas and oil deposits and is the second largest oil producer after the Middle East. Some other resources found in East Timor are gold, petroleum, manganese, and marble. In addition, the real GDP growth was 10.2% in the year 2012, one of the highest in the world2. Despite all these positive indicators, it is rather surprising to see that the country is the third-worst place in the world to live in because of the high degree of poverty and unrest3. This work intends to identify the factors that prevent East Timor from growing politically and economically. Rivalry and Lack of Coherent Policy Position in Politics An important factor behind the political instability in East Timor is the large number of actors and viewpoints in politics, making it difficult to have a coherent policy position. According to Kingsbury, the political spectrum in East Timor is divided into two broad categories; those in favor of, and those against, independence from Indonesia. However, these groups include a large number of actors and viewpoints, and hence, even now, it is difficult for them to have a coherent policy position4. Kingsbury believes this volatile situation is the reason behind the 2006 crisis in the nation5. The 2006 crisis had its beginning in the military of East Timor (F-FDTL). The military consisted soldiers from both eastern and western parts of the country. While easterners were the majority in the military and members of FRETILIN, the guerrilla force against Indonesia, the westerners were minority in the military, and were disliked in the army for their not-so-hard attitude towards Indonesia. In addition, there were conflicts between the military and the police force that consisted mainly of westerners and former members of the Indonesian military6. Slightly differing from this viewpoint, the International Crisis group identifies reasons for this clash within the political administration7. The then President Xanana Gusmao and the Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri were rivals and wanted to sack each other. Gusmao alleged that Alkatiri had ordered a hit squad to kill his political opponents, and this allegation was sufficient to ignite mass backlash in such a volatile country. Nearly half of the security forces rebelled and caused the crisis. Despite international intervention, there was widespread anarchy, east against west, soldiers against soldiers, and police against soldiers. The International Crisis Group alleges that the politicians were utilizing the opportunity to threaten the people, misguide them and use them for political gains8. Lack of National Identity because of the East-West Divide and Ethnicity Rivalry The second factor behind the apparent political instability is communal factionalism, which is often exploited by politicians and special interest groups. In the opinion of Jardine, communal violence and intimidation based on ethnic differences are a common phenomenon in the nation9. Ethnic conflicts occur every year and they spread to different groups easily. Conflicts among martial arts groups are a part of the normal life of East Timor. These groups roam freely, causing loss of life, burning down houses, spreading violence and engaging in other gang activities. Some of these groups contain even senior citizens, and politicians. It is reported that nearly three-fourth of all East Timorese men have affiliation with at least one martial arts group10. Kingsbury shows that this communal factionalism was fully exploited by special interest groups in the 2006 crisis11. For example, when Brigadier General Ruak dismissed 594 soldiers as a part of the crisis in 2006 with the approval of the then Prime Minister, President Gusmao declared publicly that the decision was unjust. He stated that there was discrimination by easterners against westerners in F-FDTL12. The mere fact is that East Timor, in total, lacks a feeling of national and communal identity, and this makes the nation vulnerable to distractions. Unequal Distribution of Wealth and Poor Literacy Another important factor behind the volatility is the resentment caused by the unequal distribution of wealth. According to International Crisis Group, a considerable proportion of the money spent by the government goes into benefiting the business class with good political connections and those who are capable of creating violence against the state13. For example, Lito Rambo was a former pro-independence guerilla who became totally listless after independence. Soon, he became a gang leader in the suburbs of Dili. Later on, he became a contractor building retaining walls and road drainage projects14. Yet another example is Rai Los who was convicted in 2009 for working in a hit squad. Soon after his release, he became the chairman of the Liquica chamber of commerce15. Thus, East Timorese Government has seriously erred by relying on cash payment schemes to silence the people who are capable of creating further conflict. After independence, the government primarily focused on a few groups: the people displaced by the crisis, the military officers that helped inflame the crisis, the elderly and disabled, and the veterans who resisted Indonesian occupation. According to International Crisis Group reports, the government is paying a pension of USD 276 to USD 575 per month for veterans and USD 230 to USD 280 per month for surviving family members, while the average monthly income of 41% of the population in East Timor is less than USD 38 per month16. In the 2013 budget, the veteran pension alone takes away 19.5 % of the total budget17. That is, less than one percent of the total population in East Timor takes away a considerable proportion of the total annual spending, and, as a result, important areas like education and health are ignored. This attitude is bound to create a number of problems for the nation in the short and long term. Firstly, though the veterans’ pension scheme brought stability and peace, if the government chooses to reduce pension amounts in future, the secured peace will vanish and conflicts will arise again. In addition, the government has given birth to a clientelist loyalty with the veterans, and this has given the veterans undue influence in parliamentary affairs. Yet another issue is that this will result in intergenerational advantages for the descendents of the veterans as they will be able to better educate their children. Finally, there is the biggest threat that all other people, people who are not benefited from the schemes, will feel marginalized because the government focuses only on those who supported and took part in pro-independence struggle. The neglected ones will include women, youth, and the pro-integration supporters. This will again create issues for the nation. The Disenfranchised Youth, Unemployment and Security Issues Another important factor behind the political and social instability in East Timor is the high degree of unemployment among the youth in the country. It is found in a study by Fundasaun Mahein that in East Timor, there is a direct correlation between unemployment, poverty and security issues18. Despite the accumulation of a sovereign fund of $ 10 million from oil and gas revenues, the country remains a poor country with extreme poverty and social problems, being the third worst place in the world to live in19. The unemployment in East Timor is estimated at 20%, which is as high as 40% in urban areas. East Timor Legal News claims that this is one of the prominent reasons behind the so-called martial arts groups roaming around the nation, spreading violence and crimes20. These young people are highly frustrated and angry towards the administration for offering no chances of sustenance, and this situation is highly calamitous as they are vulnerable to exploitation by interest groups. This poses a very serious threat to the security of the nation. Yet another consideration is that this large-scale unemployment can have serious economic consequences. When there is high degree of unemployment, there is a decline in consumption of consumer goods. This results in a reduction in the production of goods and services, making the country less attractive to investors21. This further deteriorates the situation of the country. The people who are unemployed are likely to suffer more from anxiety, depression, and substance abuse, thus making the situation worse. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce unemployment in the country to bring social and political stability along with economic improvement. The Church Opposition Groups Yet another factor behind the instability is the tension between the Church and the Church-opposition groups. According to Molnar, the Church has had an active role in the politics of East Timor since the colonization by Portuguese22. In fact, the Portuguese used the priests as their military commanders and priests at the same time. However, when the Portuguese left the land and Indonesians took their place, the Church was in trouble as the Indonesians had the plan to convert Timorese people to Islamism. Seeing the threat, the Church strongly opposed the Indonesians single-handedly. Many of the Indonesian policies including birth control were openly opposed by the Church. This situation helped the church gain more popularity among the East Timorese and the number of people converting to Christianity rose multifold23. Bishop Carols Filipe Ximenes Belo became one of the important spokespersons of the Timorese movement as he wrote directly to Vatican and the UN seeking their help. Seeing the popularity gained by Bishop Belo, the UN asked Indonesia to allow a popular consultation about the status of East Timor, and this led to the independence of East Timor with 78% of votes in favor. Angered by the situation, Indonesian military and the Indonesian-supported militia started taking Church as the primary target. The Church found itself caught in another dilemma once again after independence. When there was the brutal power struggle between the President Gusmao and the Prime Minister Alkatiri, both from FRETILIN, the Church supported Gusmao and FRETILIN supported Alkatiri. This made FRETILIN and the Prime Minister argue for a more secular system where the Church was in danger of standing as a symbol of colonial oppression. At present, a considerable number of people and groups have the opinion that the Church should not act politically, especially the ones with pro-Indonesian sentiments24. This special role of the Church in East Timor and its interactions with various political, religious, and ethnic groups are rather volatile and will continue affecting political stability for some time ahead. The International Injustice It seems that one reason behind East Timor’s inability to manage its internal affairs should be found in the impact of other nations on East Timor over a long period. According to Molnar, the Portuguese had little interest in Timor-Leste other than as a trade post25. The 1974 Portuguese revolution paved way for the decolonization of East Timor. Soon, the Portuguese started legalizing political parties in Timor-Leste. While parties like the Revolutionary Front for an Independent Timor-Leste (FRETILIN) advocated rapid achievement of independence, Timorese Popular Democratic Association (Apodeti) supported integration with Indonesia, and Timorese Union Party (UDT) sought continuing association with Portuguese26. Thus, Molnar shows that internal political division took birth before independence. In addition, many other nations including Indonesia, Australia, and the whole West had interest in the future of East Timor because of the presence of leftist ideologies and rich oil resources. According to Jardine, FRETILIN was noted for its leftist ideologies and the whole West disliked having a small independent leftist nation in the middle of the archipelago27. In the meantime, FRETILIN and UDT developed an alliance to fight for independence and became the largest parties in the election held in 1975. Seeing the turn of events, Indonesia intervened through Operation Komodo in order to create differences in pro-independence parties. As a part of this, Indonesian military officers started communication with UDT leaders. The effort was successful; soon the alliance between UDT and FRETILIN broke up. By October 1975, FRETILIN unilaterally declared the independence of the Democratic Republic of East Timor. As a response, Indonesia made the UDT, Apodeti, and some other leaders sign a declaration advocating integration with Indonesia. Soon after these developments, Indonesia invaded East Timor and the consequence was a lot of unrest28. Krieger points out that Indonesia played an active role in developing various paramilitary forces in East Timor29. To illustrate, despite the best efforts by Indonesia, three-fourth of the total Timorese population voted for independence in 1999. This infuriated Indonesia and the result was a rampage by Indonesian military supported militia and paramilitary forces. According to Krieger, the pro-integration paramilitaries in East Timor were offered arms and training by the Indonesian government30. Many of the people in the pro-integration militia were Indonesian troops themselves and their intention was defeating the independence movements31. According to Krieger, Indonesian army had developed a ‘scorched earth policy’ with the intention to kill the independence movement. The International Crisis Group claims that Western powers like UK and US had special interests in East Timor and this made them offer both overt and covert support to Indonesia in its invasion of East Timor32. To illustrate, the then US President Ford had visited Indonesia in 1975, and it is alleged that the purpose of the visit was to show green signal to the invasion. Similarly, UK provided training and military arms to Indonesia in huge quantities33. Another country that is criticized for inaction or slow action is Australia. Australia’s peace-keeping efforts in East Timor moved very slowly because Australia had its own additional interests in the matter, ranging from resources to border security34. It seems that the political atmosphere in East Timor was divided into many fractions and other nations played an active role in the process. There were two important factors that made the West involve in the process; propensity to Communism and resources like oil and natural gas35. Based on these points, Chomsky thinks the situation in East Timor was more or less similar to the situation in Kosovo. In both the cases, the Western governments and the media acted together in violating the human rights of population and suppressing the news36. Anyway, these points reveal that the influence of foreign powers had a role in creating anarchy in East Timor. The Injustice by Media Media played a role in worsening the situation by offering biased news to the world. When they reported, the reports were often biased. In one report, a journalist wrote, “the pro-independence forcers with 24 years of experience in both war and propaganda have seized the role of well-intentioned victims”37. However, according to Alan Nairn, who brought the pathetic picture of human rights in East Timor to the wider world, “Timorese have been jailed and tortured for reading newspapers from overseas or attempting to listen on shortwave to Radio Australia or the BBC.”38 The point of consideration here is the totally contradictory nature of both the reports. While the former kind of reports was common, the latter was an exception. The distorted perceptions created by the media made it difficult for the international community to understand the real issues in East Timor and respond appropriately. Conclusion In total, it is clear that East Timor, the youngest nation in the world, is not free from the ghost of its calamitous past. There are a large number of problems to be solved at the same time; poverty, illiteracy, and ethnic and political conflicts, and so on. However, it seems that politics and power struggles have made this young nation incapable of feeling united as a nation, and work for its progress. In the effort to retain peace and stability, the government has resorted to offering monetary benefits to the people who are capable of creating conflicts. Thus, the most important areas like education, health and employment took the backseat. It is necessary for the government to change its policies to improve the situation. Firstly, the government should totally avoid showing favoritism towards any ethic group or political affiliation. The feeling of equality is very necessary to create a feeling of national identity. In addition, instead of spending more on war veterans and old age people, more money should be diverted to eradicating illiteracy and creating job opportunities. This will make the youth feel enfranchised, and there will be a reciprocal increase in peace and stability. Bibliography Chomsky, Noam. A New Generation Draws the Line: Kosovo, East Timor and the Standards of the West. New York: Verso, 2001. East Timor Legal News. “Correlation between High Unemployment and Violence in Timor Leste.” East Timor Law and Justice Bulletin. East Timor Legal News. 21 Aug. 2012. Web. 18 Nov. 2014. International Conference Group on Portugal. Portuguese Studies Review. New York: International Conference Group on Portugal, 2003. International Crisis Group. Timor-Leste: Stability at What Cost? Brussels: International Crisis Group, 2013. Jardine, Matthew. East Timor: Genocide in Paradise. Michigan: The University of Michigan, 2008. Kingsbury, Damien. East Timor: The Price of Liberty. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. Krieger, Heike. East Timor and the International Community: Basic Documents. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Molnar, Andrea K. Timor Leste: Politics, History, and Culture. New York: Routledge, 2010. United States Committee on Foreign Relations. Crisis in East Timor and U.S Policy toward Indonesia. Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University, 2010. Read More