| Subject: IHT/Xanana
Gusmão: The Way Forward fo r East Timor
International Herald Tribune Monday,
December 20, 1999
Opinion
The Way Forward for East Timor
By Xanana Gusmão International Herald
Tribune
TOKYO - After the storm that East Timor
faced this year, what is its political vision for the future? We wish to
create an inclusive society. All East Timorese, regardless of their
political background, have a role to play in the reconstruction of the
country. We have supported the UN Transitional Administration for East
Timor, in establishing a National Consultative Council which is inclusive
of all East Timorese groups that are committed to a peaceful, democratic
way forward.
But inclusiveness does not mean impunity.
The question of how justice will be administered in East Timor, and
whether it will be punitive or restorative in nature, is vital to our
future and to the confidence that the people will have in their governing
institutions and leaders.
While we go about debating this delicate
and highly complex issue among ourselves, we commend the separate
initiatives of the United Nations and the Indonesian government in holding
inquiries into human rights abuses in our country. I hope that these
investigations result in an opportunity for the many victims of violence
to tell their story, and also help to boost the confidence of East
Timorese in the universality of the values of justice, human rights and
democracy.
Over the next year or two, as our people
start to recover from the abuses they have faced, we will see political
parties emerge. But we need time, for our people to see political parties
as a healthy competition between different democratic visions, not as
vehicles for waging terror or for patronage and corruption.
In implementing the reconstruction
program, we seek a real partnership with the international community. Now
is the time when East Timorese must start preparing to take over the reins
of government at the end of the transitional administration. This
preparation will only be successful if we have an equal seat at the table
now, during the transition. The international community should give
maximum priority to training Timorese at all levels.
What is East Timor's economic vision?
First, we believe that economic recovery must be led by the agricultural
sector. This is very important in the short term, to eliminate the present
total reliance on humanitarian aid, and to encourage people to return to
the rural areas.
In the medium term, the farm sector is
also key to poverty reduction, since the poorest in our society are
dependent on agriculture for their income. East Timor needs rapid
assistance from the international community in supplying seeds and tools
for farmers so that maximum planting is done before the heavy rains come
at the end of the month.
East Timor wants a sustainable and
efficient public sector, with the smallest possible bureaucratic machine.
We are a small country, and communities can be empowered at local levels
to run many of their own affairs. We do not need the arms of the state to
reach into every village and hamlet.
I endorse the recommendations of the
recent Joint Assessment Mission to East Timor led by the World Bank to
recruit only 12,000 civil servants over the next three years, down from
28,000 under Indonesian rule. More than 80 percent of these will work in
the health and education sectors, reflecting our commitment to focus on
public investment in human development. We must rebuild and improve the
health and education systems, and expand water, sanitation and other basic
services.
The decrease in the size of the civil
service should allow us to increase wages from the extremely low levels
before the ballot, so that we can attract qualified staff and reduce the
incentives for corruption.
I fully support initiatives to increase
financial controls and guard against corruption. For a small country, we
are receiving a huge amount of international aid. We need to see that all
such assistance is well spent.
To this end, we seek to establish a body
composed of UN and East Timorese representatives to oversee the delivery
of foreign aid. Just as the international community quite correctly
expects transparency and accountability from us, we ask that
nongovernmental organizations and UN agencies be answerable and
accountable to the East Timorese public in whose name they are soliciting
funds.
Finally, East Timor is an Asia-Pacific
nation. We need to build closer relations, including trade and investment
relations, with our neighbors in the region. I recently returned from a
visit to Indonesia, where President Abdurrahman Wahid and I affirmed our
desire for close ties on many levels in the future.
The writer is president of the National
Council of Timorese Resistance. This comment has been adapted by the
International Herald Tribune from an address on Friday to delegates from
more than 50 countries and international agencies in Tokyo shortly before
they pledged some $520 million in nonrepayable aid to East Timor over the
next three years.
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