DATE=9/21/1999
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=EAST TIMOR AND INDONESIAN POLITICS
NUMBER=5-44294
BYLINE=BRONWYN CURRAN
DATELINE=JAKARTA
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The international peacekeeping troops that are
arriving in East Timor could be stepping into the
middle of a growing dispute between Indonesia's
political factions. As V-O-A's Bronwyn Curran reports
from Jakarta, the dispute centers on the fact that
some politicians and military leaders might not be
reconciled to the fact that East Timor's people have
voted overwhelmingly to break away from Indonesia and
form an independent nation.
TEXT: The Australian-led peacekeeping troops are
expected to restore order in the territory following
weeks of violence by anti-independence fighters that
has killed hundreds and left hundreds of thousands
homeless. Many in Indonesia are almost as unhappy
about the arrival of the peacekeepers as they are
about East Timor's pro-independence vote in a U-N
sponsored election last month.
Almost every Indonesian politician who has spoken out
on the issue has been against allowing foreign troops
to be stationed on territory they consider an integral
part of the country.
This is hardly surprising, especially with politicians
maneuvering for position in Indonesia's November
presidential balloting.
And because it is Indonesia's Consultative Assembly -
and not the people - that will choose the next
president, what the politicians think about the East
Timor issue is what counts.
Complicating the issue is that the 700-member
Consultative Assembly also decides whether to ratify
the independence vote in East Timor, thereby setting
free what many here consider Indonesia's 27th province.
The newly elected Assembly meets for the first time
next month and there are concerns its members might
even refuse to ratify the independence vote.
Those concerns are based in part on the fact that the
Assembly's biggest faction - the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle - is also its most nationalistic.
The party is led by Megawati Sukarnoputri and is most
closely identified with maintaining the unity of this
vastly diverse island nation at almost any cost.
Just as important right now, Mrs. Megawati is also
campaigning hard to become Indonesia's fourth
president and badly needs the support of the
military's 38 Assembly members to secure victory.
Political experts here predict Mrs. Megawati has a
good chance of winning that support because she has
been a strong supporter of the military and has also
been a tough critic of President B.J. Habibie's
decision to even allow a U-N sponsored independence
vote.
But even though Mrs. Megawati has been against the
idea of independence for East Timor, she promised
before the U-N sponsored vote that she would abide by
the result no matter which way it went.
That, however, was before the territory exploded into
weeks of violence, leaving hundreds dead and an
estimated half a million people homeless.
The question now is whether Mrs. Megawati's party
might be tempted to take advantage of the tense
situation to negotiate a deal with the military for
its support in the presidential balloting. The price
of that support, some worry, could be her party's vote
against East Timor's independence.
Sabam Sirait is a founder of Mrs. Megawati's party,
and one of her advisers. He insists that the party is
indeed committed to ratifying the U-N election,
especially because the people of East Timor voted
almost 80 percent in favor of independence.
///SIRAIT ACT///
WE WILL RESPECT THE BALLOT THAT HAPPENED IN
EAST TIMOR. I THINK 79 PER CENT IS A BIG
NUMBER. WE WILL RESPECT IT.
///END ACT///
Sabam Sirait also says the party has decided - with
great reluctance - to go along with President
Habibie's agreement to allow in foreign peacekeepers.
///SIRAIT 2nd ACT//
We don't need the peacekeeping force to
come to Indonesia. We don't need it and I
hope this will be the first and last for
Indonesia.
///END ACT///
That, more or less, is also the position of President
Habibie's Golkar Party, now the second largest faction
in the Consultative Assembly. It too has opposed the
idea of independence for East Timor, but Habibie says
it will respect the U-N vote anyway.
Assuming Golkar goes along with Habibie, the price
could be his political career. Signs are that his
party might blame him for the loss of East Timor and
drop him as a president candidate in November.
(SIGNED)
NEB/BC/LTD/JP
21-Sep-1999 08:43 AM EDT (21-Sep-1999 1243 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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