Timor - Politics
Australian National University researcher Gordon Peake wrote that Timor is a country of " ...family relationships, friendships, romances and antagonisms that collectively render ideas and concepts such as ‘accountability’ and ‘separation of powers’ almost completely impractical… Kinship and opaque connections are the ties that bind – not five-year plans and detailed strategic documentation."
Timor-Leste's political history to date has been dominated by three figures: Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, President Jose Ramos-Horta, and Fretilin Secretary General and former PM Mari Alkatiri. These three elder statesmen represented the generation that remembered the Portuguese colonial era. Over the course of the two election cycles in 2012 and 2017, they were confronted with a new generation of voters and leaders. No figure on the horizon, however, had Gusmao's profile at home or Ramos-Horta's abroad.
Timor-Leste became a fully independent republic with a parliamentary form of government on May 20, 2002, after approximately two and a half years under the authority of the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET). The country's first parliament was formed from the 88-member Constituent Assembly chosen in free and fair, UN-supervised elections in August 2001. The FRETILIN Party won the majority of Assembly seats. Mari Alkatiri, FRETILIN's Secretary General, became the first Prime Minister, and FRETILIN dominated the country's 29-member cabinet. Xanana Gusmao was elected in free and fair elections on April 14, 2002 as President.
UNTAET's mandate ended with East Timor's independence, but a successor organization, the UN Mission for the Support of East Timor (UNMISET), was established to provide additional support to the government. UNMISET's mandate expired on May 20, 2005 after the UN Security Council unanimously approved the creation of a small special political mission in Timor-Leste, the UN Office in Timor-Leste (UNOTIL), to take its place. Under the constitution ratified in March 2002, "laws and regulations in force continue to be applicable to all matters except to the extent that they are inconsistent with the Constitution." The Government of Timor-Leste enacted a significant amount of legislation, including criminal and procedure codes.
The political situation in East Timor changed significantly in April/May of 2006 after the capital Dili was shaken with violence, following the dismissal of about 600 military personnel. In 2006, internal antagonism within the military, security forces and the political leadership resulted in widespread civil violence and an attempted coup. The coup resulted in youth gang violence, open gunfire between military and police forces on the streets of Dili and the displacement of 150,000 people. The crisis resulted in 14,000 damaged or destroyed homes and 40 deaths. A series of violent clashes occurred involving the police, the military and armed gangs. Law and order broke down, resulting in deaths, looting and widespread destruction of property. The civilian population of Dili was seriously affected with many thousands of residents fleeing the violence.
In May 2006, the International Stabilisation Force, which had been invited to East Timor by the East Timorese Government, arrived in an effort to restore security and stability. An ISF successfully created 56 internally displaced persons camps. The 2006 crisis that brought large international deployments back to Timor-Leste through the ISF and the UN Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste. The ongoing crisis led President Gusmao to declare Emergency Powers on 30 May 2006. In the aftermath, Prime Minister Alkatiri, who was instrumental in the dismissals, resigned on 26 June and was subsequently replaced by José Ramos-Horta, the former Foreign Minister. Following Alkatiri’s resignation, calm was largely restored to the country. In July 2006, Ramos-Horta’s new government was sworn in.
The Independent Special Commission of Inquiry for Timor-Leste was established to look into the outbreak of violence in Timor-Leste of April and May 2006. It came about following a request on 8 June 2006, from the then Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta (now President). On 12 June 2006, Kofi Annan, the then UN Secretary-General, asked the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to establish the Commission. In its report, the Commission concluded that the fragility of various State institutions and the weakness of the rule of law were the underlying factors that contributed to the crisis. The Commission identified numerous persons suspected of direct participation in criminal activity during the crisis, and recommended they be prosecuted. Judicial processes were initiated against some of those individuals.
On February 11, 2008, followers of former military police commander and fugitive Major Alfredo Reinado attacked President Ramos-Horta at his residence in Dili. Ramos-Horta sustained gunshot injuries and was airlifted to Australia for medical treatment. Prime Minister Gusmao escaped unharmed after his bodyguards thwarted a separate attack against him the same day as the attack on the president. Two of the alleged assailants were killed in the initial attack on the President Ramos-Horta. The president's bodyguards killed Reinado.
The government, with the approval of the national parliament, immediately imposed a state of siege that temporarily imposed a curfew, curtailed freedom of assembly, and gave security forces greater latitude for arrests and searches. These emergency measures were scaled back as conditions stabilized over the following weeks. After medical treatment in Australia the President returned to Timor-Leste to take up his duties in East Timoro n April 17. By May 2008, the remaining rebels had either surrendered or been apprehended.
The incidents presented an unexpected and serious challenge to State institutions, but encouragingly, and in contrast to the events of 2006, the situation did not precipitate a crisis destabilizing the entire society. The institutions of the State responded in an appropriate and responsible manner that respected constitutional procedures. The Prime Minister demonstrated firm and reasoned leadership; the Parliament functioned effectively as a forum for debate in response to the events; and leaders of all political parties urged their supporters to remain calm, while the general population demonstrated faith in the ability of the State to deal with the situation.
The state of emergency was lifted completely when the remainder of Reinado’s followers surrendered to authorities on April 29, 2008. Most of them were convicted on March 3, 2010, for their involvement in the assassination attempt. Ramos-Horta subsequently commuted the sentences of the defendants, and they were released. Since 2008, the government has succeeded in maintaining stability throughout the country.
No laws limit participation of women or members of minority groups in the political process, and they did participate. Electoral laws require that at least one-third of candidates on party lists be women. Following the 2018 parliamentary elections, women held 26 of the 65 seats in parliament but only eight of 46 ministerial, vice-ministerial, and secretary of state positions in the new government. Of 20 ministers, only the minister of social solidarity and inclusion (concurrently a deputy prime minister), the minister of foreign affairs and cooperation, and the minister of health were women. At the local level, at least three women must serve on all village councils, which generally include 10 to 20 representatives depending on village size. In 2016 local elections, the number of female village chiefs increased from 11 to 21 of the 448 nationwide chief positions. Traditional attitudes, limited networks, high rates of domestic violence, extensive child-care responsibilities, and other barriers constrained greater participation of women at the local and national levels.
The country’s few ethnic and religious minority groups were well integrated into the political system; however, in 2018 Muslim leaders reported discrimination against Muslims joining civil service positions. The number of ethnic minority members of parliament and in other government positions was uncertain, since self-identification of ethnicity was not a common practice.
Despite a number of setbacks, including the political and security crisis of 2006 and the assassination attempts of early 2008, Timor- Leste has made substantial progress in security and development. It has years of stability, during which the government has been able to focus on development. It has also launched a 20-year Strategic Development Plan that sets out a path for engagement with international partners and has consolidated stability by holding peaceful elections.
Timorese citizens are fiercely proud of their independence and remain very aware of how hard they had to fight for it.
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