Jon Lamb
While the fighting between different factions of the East Timor Defence Force (FDTL) and the East Timor National Police (PNTL) has ceased with the arrival of the Australian-led international security force, sporadic street skirmishes and violence by unruly gangs continue. The uneasy situation has been further complicated by ongoing tensions within the East Timorese political elite over who is responsible for the crisis and how it should be resolved.
Shortly after the May 25 arrival of the first contingent of Australian troops, along with New Zealand and Malaysian soldiers, loyalist soldiers in the FDTL agreed to return to their barracks. The rebel factions of the FDTL also accepted cantonment and cessation of hostilities. The fractured PNTL was effectively disarmed and demobilised, though detachments gradually returned to their posts, with some PNTL officers also assisting Australian troops with security activities.
A two-day session of the Council of State, a body comprising government representatives, including Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri and President Xanana Gusmao, and leaders of various political parties, non-government organisations and the church, convened on May 29 to discuss the crisis and the next course of action to resolve the situation. While the deliberations of this body remain largely secret, much of the meeting is believed to have centred on the differences between Gusmao and Alkatiri and assessing the factional breakdown in the FDTL and how to stop the street-gang violence.
Much of the Australian and international media commentary has played up the outcome of the deliberations and speculated that Gusmao, with the backing of foreign minister Jose Ramos Horta, would force Alkatiri to step down as prime minister. After the meeting, Gusmao confirmed that the council had declared a "grave crisis" and conferred constitutional powers to him over the FDTL and PNTL.
A presidential statement released on May 30 called for rebel groups and gangs to disarm and to refrain from violence. It also stated that the president "assumes the main responsibility in the areas of defence and national security, in his capacity as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces" and "that the National Parliament shall meet, as soon as possible, to discuss and follow-up on the ongoing crisis". Under the constitution, only the parliament can declare a state of emergency.
The exertion of Gusmao's authority and control over the army and police, however, has been largely symbolic, as actual control remains in the hands of the Australian-led security force. The head of this force, Brigadier Michael Slater, confirmed that he was still consulting with both Gusmao and Alkatiri on security matters.
Prior to the Council of State meeting, Alkatiri, who is head of the ruling Fretilin party, asserted that there was a coup attempt against him and that the rebel army groupings are part of a move to unseat him and dissolve the government. He and other Fretilin leaders who have made these claims have not openly stated which political forces they believe are involved in this attempt or whom they believe to be backing rebel officers such as Major Alfredo Reinado. Reinado has been increasingly vocal in calling Alkatiri a "criminal" and a "communist", blaming him for the crisis and demanding that he step down.
Reinado, who has risen to elevated prominence in the Australian media, has stated that he and his grouping continue to pledge allegiance to Gusmao and do not recognise Alkatiri as prime minister. In an interview with Lusa news service on June 1, Reinado claimed he had assumed command of "all [dissident] military forces in the mountains" around Dili, and that these rebel forces would "stay in the mountains" until "the crimes of April 28" — when protesting, sacked soldiers were fired upon by police — had been clarified and resolved. However the extent of forces under Reinado's control is not clear, beyond an immediate grouping of around 25 well-armed military police. Horta indicated on ABC radio on June 2 that he was involved in discussions with a range of other officers representing the rebels, including the group of nearly 600 sacked soldiers.
Gusmao and Horta are widely viewed as arch-opponents of Alkatiri, though they have stopped short of openly calling for him to resign. Such a call would be likely to seriously inflame the situation and provoke demonstrations and mobilisations by pro-government Fretilin members and supporters. The limited effect of Gusmao's and Horta's direct appeals to rioting youths and looters when the violence was at its peak also reflected some hostility their own roles in the crisis.
Alkatiri pledged to mobilise the Fretilin base if a move was made against him, claiming he could bring 100,000 people out onto the streets. Fretilin is the only political party with a consolidated national spread across East Timor, relying heavily on its traditional legacy as the main party that led the independence struggle, so it could potentially muster a significant social base.
In what appears to have been a compromise and an attempt to break the stalemate within the political elite, central Fretilin leaders Rogerio Lobato and Roque Rodrigues agreed on June 1 to step down as interior minister and minister of defence respectively, stating that they accepted responsibility for the events that led to the political crisis and violence.
Alkatiri announced he was replacing Rodrigues with Horta and Lobato with deputy internal administration minister Alcino Barris. Speaking to ABC radio the following day, Horta said that while "many people in the country want the prime minister to resign ... we should move one step at a time". He said that it was a time to consolidate and negotiate and to exercise "prudence and caution".
While the gang violence has gradually eased, the situation remains volatile and the Australian government has hinted that it will keep a troop presence in East Timor for an undisclosed period of time. Defence minster Brendan Nelson stated on May 30: "In the political, financial, legal and social reconstruction of East Timor over the near and longer term, we are of the view that the security arrangements essentially be with the East Timorese government involving a coalition of countries, led perhaps by Australia."
Portugal, which is the single largest contributor of foreign aid to East Timor, sent the first detachment of Portuguese security forces on June 1 — some 120 members of the elite paramilitary Republican National Guard (GNR). Lusa reported on June 1 that Portuguese foreign ministry spokesperson Antonio Carneiro Jacinto had stated that the paramilitaries would remain under autonomous command, depending on the East Timorese prime minister and president. According to internal administration minister Antonio Costa, the GNR presence is a long-term mission that would also include helping to rebuild East Timor's army and police.
There are also grave concerns that the violence has sparked a humanitarian crisis that could deepen unless large amounts of food, water and other aid is circulated quickly to the camps where internally displaced people have gathered.
The Inter-Agency Humanitarian Assistance Group estimated that by May 31, at least 70,000 internally displaced people were sheltering in official and makeshift camps across Dili. At least 30,000 others are believed to have also left Dili for the safety of villages and camps in surrounding districts. ABC correspondent Peter Cave stated on June 2 that as many as 15,000 refugees were camped at the Dom Bosco Catholic centre in Dili, with limited supplies of food and water. Cuban doctors were treating children and others for diarrhoea and dehydration.
United Nations Office In East Timor (UNOTIL) chief Sukehiro Hasegawa also formally requested on May 29 that as a step towards restoring calm the East Timorese government investigate as soon as possible the May 25 killings by FDTL troops of 12 unarmed PNTL officers under UN escort.
Lobato told Lusa on June 1 that "this incident would not have happened if the commander-general of police [Superintendent Paulo Martins] had been here and in coordination with the armed forces command". The whereabouts of Martins is unknown and it is believed he is with one of the rebel groups outside of Dili.
From Green Left Weekly, June 7, 2006.
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