Let's thank those UN peacekeepers

I'm now in NY, 13 hours behind Timor-Leste and with quite a few countries and oceans between, but Timor is still very much on my mind and as I watched last night the opening ceremony of the London Olympics I couldn't help but wonder about the competitors that would be coming from Timor-Leste to show their pride and skills in this great event.

Today, coincidence or not, I received this article about exactly that!
So here I am, hoping and wishing that TL brings home a medal, because they deserve it and because it would mean so much more than what it is.

And with the UN closing up shop, with three successful elections behind us and ten years of independence, let's see what the future holds for Timor!

Huffington Post

Peter Yeo

Vice President, UN Foundation

Carrying the Torch for Peace

Posted: 07/27/2012 4:19 pm


As over 10,000 of the world's greatest athletes convene in London for the 2012 Olympic Games, three truly stand out. It is not their athletic ability, their hours in training, or their love of competition that makes their stories unique -- though certainly they shine in those categories, too. Rather, it is their triumphs in rising from histories of war and conflict to represent their nations with pride. As these athletes prepare to march in Friday's Opening Ceremonies, we are reminded of how their countries arrived at this day.

Meet Augusto Ramos Soares and Juventina Napoleao, two proud competitors representing the small Southeast Asian nation of Timor-Leste. When I visited Timor-Leste more than a decade ago as a congressional staffer, the people there were still struggling to achieve peace and independence, much less a day when their nation would be able to send its citizens to the world stage. Yet, in a matter of hours, Olympic dreams will come true, not just for Soares and Napoleao, but for all their countrymen.

This feat might not have been realized without the dedication of United Nations peacekeepers. It was a UN Peacekeeping mission that helped turn the dream of independence into a reality in 2002. And when violence erupted again four years later, peacekeepers helped restore stability, ensuring that the young nation could move toward a better, more prosperous future.

Today, UN peacekeepers continue to support Timor-Leste by bolstering the police force, training and recruiting officers, and promoting democracy. In fact, in the recent democratic elections, peacekeepers provided extensive technical and logistical support.

Now, in the words of former President and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. José Ramos-Horta, "Our athletes show the world that Timor-Leste has regained peace, tranquility, safety."

The success stories do not end there. Consider Guor Marial, a top distance runner hailing from the world's newest nation, South Sudan. Growing up in Sudan, Marial lost 28 family members to violence and disease. As he told the Associated Press last week, he escaped from a labor camp in Sudan when he was only eight years old. He remembers, "I used to hate running. I was running back home to save my life."

But last year when South Sudan declared its independence -- an outcome that would have been unthinkable without the profound assistance of the UN peacekeeping mission -- running took on new meaning for Marial. Although South Sudan has yet to form an Olympic committee, its journey to becoming a sovereign nation has enabled Marial to participate in this year's Olympics as an independent athlete, competing in honor of his new nation.

"The voice of South Sudan has been heard," he told the AP. "The South Sudan has finally got a spot in the world community. Even though I will not carry their flag in this Olympic Games, the country itself is there."

The London games will be the first Olympics for Napoleao and Marial and the second for Soares, who returns after competing in Beijing in 2008. Yet they each share one thing in common: The honors they bring to their countries are reflective of a hard-earned peace, and the dedication of UN peacekeepers. As Opening Ceremonies begin, let's thank those UN peacekeepers who promote peace and stability -- not just in Timor-Leste and South Sudan, but in 17 missions around the world. They enable a new generation of youth, like these three phoenixes, to dream and achieve.

Goodbye, Maliana!

I am now in Dili.
We traveled the road from Maliana to Dili for the last time - in the near future, anyway - with the car loaded up with all our possessions and our hearts full of goodbye for Bobonaro and Maliana. We stopped in Maubara for the last time to have lunch and enjoy their 'pão com chouriço' and check out the art crafts for last minute presents to loved ones, saying goodbye to Liquiça in the process.

The climate in Dili is hot and tense...
There have been incidents of car stoning and burnt tires everyday; our own car was stoned on Tuesday after my colleague C left me at my friend's house, no windows broken but three massive dents and a huge scare for C!
Everyday we receive messages from every source, UN, Portuguese Embassy, etc. telling us to avoid this road or that road, to be home before nightfall and to reduce all movements around the city.
But if you were to arrive in Dili tomorrow you wouldn't understand because the city seems to be at peace. On Tuesday, shops were still closed but Wednesday it was back to normal activity albeit with reduced hours.
I'm actually staying in a not so friendly area, getting there is hazardous and I try to limit by comings and going so I find myself roaming the city or hanging out in friends' gardens, waiting for the time to go home. Today, we finally went to the new Timorese Resistance Museum, the space is quite nice and the potential, since it's still not completely finished, is huge as a space for exhibitions, movie-showings and cultural gatherings.
But this hasn't exactly been what my last week should be like!

Meanwhile, my last few days in Maliana witnessed a funeral, a lot of dinners, farewell parties, and finally a trip to the hot springs in Marobo!

Apart from the funeral, of course, these last few days were a wonderful way to say goodbye to Maliana and to the family that we have created here.

Our RSC family threw a party for us, electoral UNVs, last Friday! It was wonderful to be able to say goodbye to the team that supported us throughout these last 6 months. We had speeches, gifts and dinner and after the dinner, we had dancing! It was truly the United Nations, with everyone showing off their cultural dances or styles. The whiskey went far too quickly, leaving some a bit worse for wear but it was all great fun, definitely a night I'm never likely to forget!

The hot springs were a great follow-up to the party. The road was treacherous and hard but we've seen worse during the elections. The pool was far too hot to swim in -40 degrees celsius (although we still dipped in)!!! -  but the scenery was beautiful and a great ending to our time in Bobonaro.

On Monday, our STAE colleagues threw us a farewell party. We thanked them, they thanked us, we hugged and danced and hugged some more. Trying not to be overwhelmed by the occasion was difficult, especially when our coordinator apologized to us for all the times that he was angry with us or with the UN, which was quite surprising but relieving to hear. I'm going to miss our Timorese colleagues, their smiles, their laughter and their acceptance of us as their own.

I'm going to miss my afternoon runs, chasing the pink and orange sunsets of Maliana, with the mountains and the river on my left as I'm going downhill with the wind at my back and the children yelling out to me 'Boa Tarde!'

I'm going to miss seeing the buffaloes and cows crossing the river every afternoon to take a quick bath and their colors of brown, white and gray.

I'm going to miss the rice fields of Cailaco with its changing colors along the season and seeing the people diligently toiling their fields.

I'm going to miss the bougainvilleas that grow around the district, decorating each house and road with its colors of whites, reds and pinks.


I'm going to miss the colorful geckos running up and down the walls with their nightly calls.


I'm going to miss the suicide chickens everyday trying to give me a heart attack with their daredevil attitudes towards my car!


I'm going to miss the people that I've met, international and national alike, they have made this adventure special and unique. 


I'm going to miss having random strangers say "Bom dia/Boa tarde/Boa noite" when I pass.


But most of all, I'm going to miss my Maliana family: Madalena, Jessie and Carlos, who made my life in Maliana enjoyable, full of laughter and fun. They helped keep me sane throughout this adventure and I'm going to miss their daily presence, their daily affections and support. 


I'm not going to miss however, our troubadour guard who thinks he's Frank Sinatra! He's kept me awake or woken me on far too many occasions!
I'm also not going to miss our neighbor's roosters, the devils that kept me awake along with the security guard!
I'm not going to miss my lumpy bed and the poor or non-existent electricity of our house (or entire city for that matter!) and the on again-off again of our running water.
I'm not going to miss the heat...well, not for a while anyway!
And I'm definitely not going to miss the incessant mosquitoes!

I have also learnt a lot during this adventure, especially about myself.
I have learnt that I can co-exist with spiders living in my room - if I don't bother them then they don't bother me, never thought that would be possible!
I have learnt that I'm a great 4x4 driver! Rocks and boulders are no match to me!
I've learnt to play battleship, yatzee and ternas y escaleras!
I've learnt I can actually sow quite decently, coming out of this mission the richer by a dress, two tops, two breast pins and two little bags!
I've learnt that I'm a pretty fast reader, having gone through 26 books in the space of 6 months (ok, maybe I already knew that ;)
I've learnt that I enjoy bucket showers and that given enough time I can get used to chillingly cold showers every morning!
I have also learnt never to live next to a school ever again, especially if I want to have a lie-in on Saturday!
I've learnt that, along with M, all you need is a little imagination to make a meal out of nothing!
I have learnt that I can accept a lot of hardship with a smile - or at least with an attitude of "oh well, what can you do" - I couldn't possibly expect to have the same conditions in Timor that I would have in Portugal, Belgium or the US, so I just accepted it and made the most of it!

And I truly hope I did make the most of it!
I will be leaving Timor on Saturday without having gone to Atauro Island, Oecusse or Mount Ramelau, which I truly regret but having been stationed in Bobonaro limited my possibilities for travelling around the country. We were too far and isolated from everything else so we had no other solution than to fall in love with Bobonaro, which I did!

Its mountains, its rice fields, its animal life, its people!
Thank you Maliana, thank you Bobonaro, for taking me in and for showing me your magnificent beauty. I will never forget you, to the very last detail.

Thank you.

Violence in East Timor after snub to party

So, the provisional results are out and after much discussion on who would sleep with whom, the coalition has been formed and not all Timorese have been left happy in the process. There was a possibility of forming a unity government with no opposition but this would endanger the democratic process and transparency of decision so it seems that this will no longer be the case.

PD with 8 seats had all the power to decide the outcome of the new government, would it bed with Fretilin or would it be CNRT? It all depended on who would offer more rights, more power and in the end PD bedded with CNRT. As soon as this was announced, Fretilin supporters took to the streets in protest, burning and stoning cars. We started receiving messages from UN Security to stay at home and avoid going out at night...this was intended for Dili residents as the situation in most districts, other than Viqueque and Baucau remained calm. And today the situation looks to be under control after last night's live airing of the PNTL Commander asking the people to accept the results and accept democracy and to remain peaceful, although we have just received some reports of stoning happening today...

I'm due to leave on Saturday so for selfish reasons I do hope the situation remains under control so that I can depart, but for the Timorese I also hope that they can show the world that they are capable of accepting the coalition and the electoral results. Democracy is not infallible but it is the best of the worst system we have so far, not everyone can win but losing gracefully can be a win in itself, for future possibilities and future generations.

here are two articles regarding last night's violence in Dili following the coalition announcement:

Violence in East Timor after snub to party

Date
July 16, 2012

Michael Bachelard

Violence erupted in East Timor late last night, apparently prompted by political party Fretilin being excluded from a role in the new governing coalition.

Police confirmed that about 58 cars were burned and stones thrown at traffic in the capital Dili, as unrest also spread to the outer districts of Viqueque and Baucau. A number of cars were torched and early rumours were suggested that one person had died in the conflict in the Dili suburb of Comoro, outside the headquarters of the ruling CNRT party, but this now seems doubtful.

However, sources in Dili say most of the main roads are blocked as United Nations police patrol the poverty stricken city in an attempt to bring it under control.

Residents also reported the sound of either gunfire or gas canisters being shot around the western suburb of Comoro.

The fragile democracy had this year managed a presidential election and a run-off election for president, as well as parliamentary election without significant violence, but the announcement yesterday by Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao that he would invite two minor parties into a coalition to form government for the next five years appears to have triggered an angry response from Fretilin supporters.

Until yesterday, hopes were high within Fretilin that they might also be invited to join a "government of national unity".

But Mr Gusmao dashed those hopes at a special meeting of his National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction in Comoro, Dili, by announcing he would govern with the Democratic Party and a new party which had broken away from Fretilin, Frenti-Mudanca.

Sources suggested that the violence had been triggered by one of the CNRT delegates at the meeting who strongly criticised the leaders and members of Fretilin, which has spent the past five years in opposition.

A source told Fairfax Media, the publisher of this report, that houses owned by CNRT figures in some of the outer districts may have been torched, but this remains unconfirmed.

East Timor was wracked by violence in 2006 and again in 2007, prompting Australian and United Nations forces to move into the country to help keep the peace.

The latest outbreak may jeopardise plans to leave at the end of this year, once the new government had been bedded down.

In last week's election, Mr Gusmao's party increased its vote from 24 per cent in 2007 to 36 per cent. Fretilin received 30 per of the vote and 25 seats, PD (Democratic Party) - backed by outgoing president Jose Ramos-Horta - gained 10 per cent and eight seats and Frenti-Mudanca 3 per cent and two seats.

The CNRT's general secretary said forming a coalition with PD and Frenti-Mudanca was in the best interest of stable government.

A Fretilin MP, Estanislau da Silva, said earlier he was not disappointed by yesterday's decision. ''We would have liked to contribute,'' he said. ''We have experience. But that is their decision.''

with Mouzinho Lopes and Joyce Morgan in Dili

Read more:
<http://www.smh.com.au/world/violence-in-east-timor-after-snub-to-party-20120715-2246k.html#ixzz20hWVuq7B>http://www.smh.com.au/world/violence-in-east-timor-after-snub-to-party-20120715-2246k.html#ixzz20hWVuq7B

---

Cars stoned in E. Timor as ruling party forms coalition

DILI, July 15 | Sun Jul 15, 2012 5:29pm IST

(Reuters) - East Timorese Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao's party, which won elections though not a decisive majority this month, will form a coalition that excludes main opposition group Fretilin, the prime minister said on Sunday.

Gusmao's National Council of Timorese Resistance (CNRT) party will join the Democratic Party and the Frente Reform party in government, he said.

Angry Fretilin supporters stoned cars in front of their party headquarters after the decision was announced, a Reuters witness said, but there were no reports of casualties and the situation appeared under control.

East Timor, which has offshore gas resources, gained independence from Indonesia in 2002 and is Asia's newest and one of its poorest nations.

"We have made our decision. CNRT believes that the next coalition government will be better than the coalition government five years ago," Gusmao told a conference of the ruling party, which had also discussed forming both a coalition with Fretilin and a grand coalition.

The Supreme Court will announce the official result on Tuesday but preliminary results show the CNRT won 36 percent in the July 7 election and Fretilin took 29 percent, with the Democratic Party third on 10 percent.

Gusmao's party has prepared a $10 billion strategic plan to build infrastructure and improve agriculture to address poverty and raise living standards.

Indonesia invaded East Timor, a former Portuguese colony occupying half an island at the eastern end of the Indonesian archipelago, in 1975.

It spent decades trying to crush opposition to its rule before the territory won independence following a referendum. A U.N. mission promoting stability remains to this day.

(Reporting by Tito Bello and Lirio Da Fonseca; Writing by Matthew Bigg; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)

<http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/07/15/timor-government-idINL4E8IF0F620120715>http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/07/15/timor-government-idINL4E8IF0F620120715

A sad day in Bobonaro

Yesterday we attended the funeral of our colleague's brother, the PNTL that died in the tragic accident on Saturday while bringing back ballot boxes from Lolotoe sub-district.

When I envisioned what I would be doing in Timor, the last thing I expected, the last thing I wanted, was to attend a funeral. Funerals are never easy; I have attended my fair share of them but it never gets easier, it probably shouldn't...

We made our way from Maliana to Bobonaro villa, already a treacherous road, made more treacherous by the events that it had witnessed. As we were leaving, we encountered the FPU team bringing back the car that had been involved in the accident. Never an easy sight, it was even more gruesome knowing that we were on our way to attend the funeral of the man that had been in that same car probably laughing and happy that his mission had been a success just 48 hours before.

The day was dreary as if it knew that it had to be. It was cold, the coldest I've ever experienced since being in Timor and the fog that came down the mountain became thicker and thicker. There were hundreds of people gathered at the family's house, including many colleagues of the PNTL officer. Like in all funerals, it is tradition to bring flowers; the problem is that there are no fresh flowers to be found in Maliana. We have to contend with fake plastic flowers going for 1.25$ a piece. How many is enough? What becomes of them after? Will the family find comfort in plastic flowers? These thoughts were going through my head as we were trying to pick out which to bring with us to present to the family.

We entered the dark house bearing our flowers where the wife, heavily pregnant, was sobbing hysterically over her husband, lying in his coffin in his police uniform. It was my first time seeing an open casket.

Here they have a tradition to raise the coffin up as it is about the leave its house in order to allow the family of the deceased to pass under the coffin. We were told that it was their way of saying goodbye since the deceased would never be returning home again. It was very moving as the family members were beside themselves with grief, tugging at the lock on the coffin and refusing to go under the coffin, refusing to say goodbye.

The procession to the church followed, with hundreds of mourners in tow. The church became so packed that we decided to stay outside on the steps. It was a beautiful ceremony, filled with music sung by the people in attendance. Afterwards, an UNPOL car took the coffin to its burial ground where another ceremony took place. Here cemeteries are usually on hill sides, allowing the deceased to have their final view of the mountains. The people were gathered all over the cemetery, on top of other graves and otherwise, something that you would never see in Europe, for example. Speeches were made and the grave was blessed by the priest before cement was dropped on the grave to encircle the coffin, another aspect that I'm not familiar with as we usually use earth to cover the coffin.

The burial was then followed by lunch. The family had made enough food to feed the hundreds that had come to pay their respects, which begs the question of whether they can afford it. We were told that funerals, as tradition, were the most costly of events in a person's life here in Timor. The family was not of means and the PNTL officer was probably the bread winner of his entire family. Families here are not just composed of the nuclear family and you are expected to provide for the whole family, extended and otherwise. The State payed for the coffin and will provide the wife with a modest pension but with 5 kids and another on the way, it is likely that her life just took a turn for the worse. But they wouldn't allow us to kindly refuse their food so we stayed and ate with them and the hundreds others. And then we were told that the ceremony had finished and that it was time to leave.

On the road again back down to Maliana visibility was poor, the fog had descended drastically and we were left with only 10m of visibility, something we had not yet experienced here and so we tread carefully. It was sad to have ended the elections this way, when all three rounds had been so successful, when we were so happy for Timor and what this meant for its future. It was a sad day in Bobonaro.

News from the front

TMR congratulates the people on elections
Suara Timor Lorosae (cover page)

President of the Republic Taur Matan Ruak (TMR) extended congratulations to the people of Timor-Leste on their participation in the elections.

"Political campaigns and the legislative election were run in peace and the situation is stable; therefore, as president of the republic express congratulation to all the people of the country," said Ruak.

Matan Ruak said that the process of democracy in the country was observed by the international community; he therefore called on the people to strengthen the democratic process in Timor-Leste.

“The people of Timor-Leste are waiting for the maturity of the political parties, especially the political party leaders; this is not the time for defeat. Now all the Timorese people are together to show the international community that Timor-Leste has a fatherly ability to bring this country to a better future,” said Ruak


TMR: the people win the elections
Timor Post (cover page)

President of the Republic Taur Matan Ruak said that some parties won and others lost in the election but the only winners were the Timorese people.

"All the people should know that we have done well and already succeeded in some important events in our country through the end (today) and we will step forward. Therefore we should all be together, so that we can end these events with one mind," said Ruak.

Ruak said that it is important for the people to continue maintaining security and stability in the country, and that people should accept the result of the legislative election because it was the result of people's choice.


CNRT takes lead in Timor-Leste's legislative election
Timornewsline

Xanana Gusmão's Party, CNRT is currently taking the lead in last Saturday’s legislative elections with 172,831 votes or 36.66 %.

The Fretilin Party is in second place with 140,786 or 29, 87%, while the Democratic Party (PD) received 48,581 votes or 10.31% and new party Frenti-Mudança received 14,648 votes or 3.11%.

This will translate into 30 or 31 seats for Gusmão's party, 24 or 25 for Fretilin, eight for the Democratic Party and two for Frenti-Mudança.

No party has won the majority of votes in the elections; therefore a collation is predicted to be set up.

According to Timor Post (9/7), PD Party's Secretary-General Mariano "Asanami" Sabino and Frenti Mudança's President José Luís Guterres have met with CNRT's President Xanana Gusmão, talking about the coalition, but no decision has been yet taken.

Gusmão said that he had not made any decision to form a coalition as the national counting process was not yet finished.


Lu-Olo calls on Fretilin followers to accept election result
Diário Nacional (cover page)

Fretilin Party President Francisco "Lu-Olo" Guterres called on the party's followers to accept the result of the parliamentary election.

Lu-Olo said that Fretilin's followers should accept the result of the elections and should maintain peace and stability within the country.

"This is very important moment to the Timorese people, especially my party's followers to accept the result of the elections," said Lu-Olo.


Monteiro: People should accept election result
Timornewsline

The Timorese National Police (PNTL) Commander Longuinhos Monteiro said that all the people in the country should accept the result of legislative election.

"People should accept the result of election as any parties which will win the election will be the victory of all the Timorese people," said Monteiro.

The commander made the comments on Saturday (7/7) after appearing at Lecidere Polling Centre.

He added that the PNTL would not tolerate the groups which want to create instability in the country because the people of the country want to remain calm.


One PNTL officer killed and another seriously injured in car accident
Diário Nacional (cover page)

A National Police officer was killed in a car accident when escorting ballot boxes from Lolotoe Sub district to Bobonaro District. The accident also left another police officer seriously wounded, said the Bobonaro District Police Commander.

Police officer Arsenio Noronha died and Joao dos Reis was seriously wounded and is now receiving intensive medical treatment at Guido Valadares National Hospital (HNGV) with other victims, said the Commander.

"It is true that our Police Officer Arsenio Noronha died after this fatal accident," said the Commander.


Monteiro: Zero crime in general elections
Timor Post (page 3)

Timorese National Police Commander Longuinhos Monteiro said that no acts of crimes appeared during the legislative election.

Monteiro made the statements based on the observation of PNTL and the United Nations Police in the field and stated that the security situation in the 13 districts was under control on the Election Day.

"PNTL and UN Police observed the general situation in the territory and at all the polling centres, but there has been no problem and the general situation is calm and no impediments appeared at the polling centres," said Monteiro.


CNE to hold national tabulation today
Timor Post (cover page)

The National Election Commission Election (CNE) will hold the national tabulation of ballot papers from the legislative election today.

CNE will hold the national tabulation for 72 hours or three days, based on law No.7/2006.

The ballot papers are tabulated by the staff of the Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration (STAE) and accompanied by the Electoral United Nations Volunteers, and are secured by the Timorese National Police (PNTL) and UN Police.


Monteiro: Security situation under control
Suara Timor Lorosae (cover page)

Timorese National Police (PNTL) Commander Longuinhos Monteiro said that the security situation was under control on the day of the legislative election.

"Our security situation in the territory of Timor-Leste is under control and remains in a peaceful situation," said Monteiro.


Timor-Leste position in ASEAN has not changed
Suara Timor Lorosae (cover page)

Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Zacarias Albano da Costa said that no change will take place to Timor-Leste's position about joining ASEAN.

"Although, I will not be minister again in the new government, Timor-Leste will keep its position to join ASEAN," said Da Costa.

He said that for five years he had to work hard to take Timor-Leste to join ASEAN; therefore the country should display strong commitment to join ASEAN.


International News

E. Timor PM set to stay in power, coalition likely
Agence France-Presse, 8 July 2012, by Meagan Weymes

DILI — East Timor resistance hero Xanana Gusmão is set for a new term as premier after his party won most seats in parliamentary polls, but will have to form a coalition, preliminary results showed Sunday.

His centre-left National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT) was expected to take 31 of the 65 seats in parliament, just two shy of the absolute majority needed to govern alone, the electoral administration said.

The results set the stage for negotiations to form a coalition, amid concerns that drawn-out, post-election wrangling could reignite violence in the energy-rich but deeply poor state.

The vote is a key test for the fragile democracy, which celebrated a decade of formal independence in May, and is also likely to determine whether the UN will pull out their peacekeepers by the end of the year, as planned.

The main opposition left-wing Fretilin party was expected to take 24 seats, Saturnino Babo, spokesman of the Timorese Technical Secretariat for Election Administration (STAE), told AFP.

The Democratic Party (PD), a member of the current ruling coalition would take eight seats, while Frente-Mudanca will get two, he said.

The tally was based on a provisional count of 100 percent of ballots but a final official result was not expected for several days.

PD vice president Lurdes Bessa said talks about forming a coalition with the CNRT had already begun, adding her party was likely to support 66-year-old Gusmão, a hero of East Timor's struggle against Indonesian occupation.

"Discussions started just last night, the contact has been initiated but it's going to be very difficult to make a decision," she said, but added that "I think PD will end up supporting Xanana."

Commenting on how long negotiations could last, she added "it should happen pretty quickly, probably over the next couple of days".

Wrangling over a coalition generated weeks of tensions after the 2007 elections.

Gusmão was thrust into the world of politics after his landslide victory in the 2002 presidential election.

The United Nations sees the polls -- and their aftermath -- as the last big test that will decide whether its remaining 1,300 peacekeepers and other security staff can withdraw as planned within six months.

Its Integrated Mission in East Timor (UNMIT) -- with a total current military, police and civilian force of about 3,000 -- was deployed in 2006 with a mandate to restore security after a political crisis in which dozens were killed and tens of thousands displaced.

Presidential polls that were held over two rounds in March and April passed off peacefully, and there has been no major violence linked to the parliamentary polls.

In the last legislative elections in 2007, the CNRT won three fewer seats than Fretilin, but Gusmão's party won out in the post-election horse-trading to lead a coalition government with three smaller parties.

According to the provisional results from Saturday's vote CNRT had won 36.6 percent of the vote, Fretilin was in second place with 29.8 percent and PD took 10.3 percent.

Following the end of Portuguese rule in 1975, East Timor was occupied by Indonesia for 24 years. Some 183,000 people died from fighting, disease and starvation before the half-island state voted for independence in 1999.

The country has offshore fields of oil and natural gas and its Petroleum Fund has swelled to $10 billion, but half the 1.1 million people are officially classified as living in poverty.

"The biggest risk is poverty," President Tamar Matan Ruak, who has backed the CNRT, said Saturday after casting his vote. He beat Nobel laureate Jose Ramos-Horta in the recent presidential polls.

CNRT campaigned on a platform of longer-term investment on major infrastructure projects such as roads, electricity and water.

Fretilin, which is synonymous with the pro-independence struggle, pledged to spend oil revenues to lift income and education levels.


East Timor PM's party wins parliamentary election: provisional result
Reuters, 8 July 2012, by Tito Belo

DILI - The party of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão has won East Timor's parliamentary election, but was short of a majority, provisional results showed on Sunday, raising the prospect of a coalition government in Asia's youngest nation.

With all the ballots counted from Saturday's poll, the National Council of Timorese Resistance (CNRT) party led by Gusmão, a former guerrilla leader, had 36.7 percent of the vote, election commission official Tomas Cabral said.

The opposition Fretilin Party, also a key player in securing independence from Indonesia, scored 29.9 percent. The Democratic Party lay third with 10.3 percent, placing it in a key position in any bid to form a government.

"The result makes us even more curious about who would form the government," said Antonio dos Reis, a veteran independence fighter. "But for me, these parties should unite and form a united government so that we can start developing this country."

With negotiations on a coalition almost certainly ahead, voters huddled around radios to hear the latest tallies, while many followed results posted on Facebook and Twitter.

"What we will see in the next two or three weeks is a lot of discussion between CNRT and the Fretilin about the potential arrangements for the foundation of the government," said Silas Everett, country representative for the Asia Foundation.

"The discussions will probably result in either a coalition or a minority government."

The CNRT based its platform on seeking foreign loans to build infrastructure in one of Asia's poorest country with high youth unemployment. Fretilin opposes resorting to loans.

However, Everett said that if the parties could bridge their differences, the resulting coalition would produce a more stable government able to proceed with economic development.

CNRT is open for talks following the result announcement, said Dionisio Babo Soares, the party's secretary general.

The party targeted to win 44 seats but would only get around 30 of the 65-seat parliament based on the result.

Official results are expected on July 17. The government has said a new administration will be formed by August 8.

Indonesia invaded East Timor, a former Portuguese colony occupying half an island at the eastern end of the Indonesian archipelago, in 1975.

It spent decades trying to crush opposition to its rule before the territory won independence following a U.N. sponsored referendum. A U.N. mission promoting stability remains to this day.

East Timor has enjoyed stability and peace in the past five years, following a factional conflict in 2006 and attempts to assassinate then-president Jose Ramos-Horta and Gusmão in 2008.

The United Nations, which has said its mission will end in December, lauded Saturday's election as peaceful and orderly.


Timor-Leste election results in hung parliament
The Guardian (UK), 8 July 2012

Ruling party of Xanana Gusmao has the most votes in East Timor election but faces coalition or minority government

The ruling party in Timor-Leste has fallen short of a parliamentary majority, raising the prospect of a coalition government in Asia's youngest nation, also known as East Timor.

With all the ballots counted from the weekend poll, the National Council of Timorese Resistance party (CNRT) led by Xanana Gusmao, a former guerrilla leader who beca,e prime minister, had 36.7% of the vote, election commission official Tomas Cabral said.

The opposition Fretilin party, also a key player in securing independence from Indonesia, scored 29.9%. The Democratic party lay third with 10.3%, placing it in a key position in any bid to form a government.

"The result makes us even more curious about who would form the government," said Antonio dos Reis, a veteran independence fighter. "But for me these parties should unite and form a united government so that we can start developing this country."

Silas Everett, country representative for the Asia Foundation, said: "What we will see in the next two or three weeks is a lot of discussion between CNRT and the Fretilin about the potential arrangements for the foundation of the government.

"The discussions will probably result in either a coalition or a minority government."

The CNRT based its platform on seeking foreign loans to build infrastructure. Timor-Leste is one of Asia's poorest countries and youth unemployment is high. Fretilin opposes resorting to loans.

Everett said that if the parties could bridge their differences the resulting coalition would produce a more stable government able to proceed with economic development.

CNRT was open for talks following the result announcement, said Dionisio Babo Soares, the party's secretary general. It had aimed to win 44 seats but would only get around 30 out of the 65-seat parliament based on the result.

Official results are expected on 17 July. The government has said a new administration will be formed by 8 August.

Indonesia invaded Timor-Leste in 1975. It spent decades trying to crush opposition to its rule before the territory won independence following a UN-sponsored referendum. A UN mission promoting stability remains to this day.

Timor-Leste has enjoyed stability and peace in the past five years, following a factional conflict in 2006 and attempts to assassinate the then president Jose Ramos-Horta and Gusmao in 2008.

The UN, which is aiming to end its mission in December, said the weekend elections were peaceful and orderly.

Successful elections marred by death

Bobonaro has voted, its people have voted and, not so surprisingly, CNRT, Xanana's party has pulled a whopping 37.65%, trailed far behind by FRETILIN with 17.77%, and PD with 14.53%. These are only the provisional results for Bobonaro district. We have to wait now until the end of the week for the national tabulation to be completed with the final results for Timor-Leste.

We finished the tabulation this morning, after more than 16 hours of counting 'actas'. Luckily, we got a pause last night at 01:40 so we managed to sleep a bit before continuing on.

For me, this was my easiest round. I didn't think that would be the case when I found out which polling centres I had been assigned. As I mentioned in the previous post, we had an additional 6 polling stations so we needed more cars. At the last minute before the deployment began on Friday morning we got the go-ahead from UN to use another car, but with a UN car you need a UN driver so one of our teams had to split up and it fell on the two logistics officers, myself included, to do it. I got assigned Poerema and Atudara Foho in Cailaco sub-district...the funny thing is that these two are actually on the inaccessible list and we needed to use a helicopter to get to them last time round!

I was, therefore, needless to say, in awe of the road I had ahead of me on Friday when I went to distribute the ballot boxes. At one point we veered off the paved road onto a dirt road high up in the mountains of Bobonaro. Some of the hills would put my car at a near 90 degree angle and it was quite unnerving to look in my rear-view mirror and only see sky, deep blue sky behind me! However, the deployment went off without a hitch, I was accompanied by PNTL and CNE cars so no worries about getting lost on my way. I was actually the first one back to headquarters on Friday! I was concerned, however, about doing those hills at night the next day, knowing that the counting process would probably take  much longer than the last two times given the amount of candidates. Those hills were treacherous and very easy to slide into oblivion with one wrong turn of the wheel!

But no, election day went off in Bobonaro district without a hitch. Both of my polling stations were finished by 5pm. It was a bit hard, however, coming back from them; with 10 people in the car and all the ballot boxes and voting cabins, my car was having hard time going up those hills, I actually had to drive on low gear for half of the way so it was slow trip back to Maliana but other than that everything on my end went off perfectly. And in Bobonaro as a whole, the stations opened and closed on time, and minus a few human or technical errors there were no mistakes in the counting. We heard there were a few disturbances, there was fight in front of one of the polling stations, in Soelesu, where I had been assigned for the first round of presidential elections but other than that all was calm, peaceful. And at one point we got word that two people had been kidnapped on the road! However, the latter was never confirmed...

I arrived again quite early in Maliana, I didn't even need to wait for a convoy this time, it was just my car and the PNTL car escorting me. The day, which had been clad with imminent rain up in the mountains, turned into such a magnificent sunset that I had to keep bringing my eyes back on the road coming down from fear of driving off the edge! I was the second car to arrive back with the ballot boxes which allowed me to witness the entire tabulation process for the first time. I got the feeling that the people were happy with the results in their stations. Tired, exhausted and with red eyes from too many nights of watching over the ballot boxes our STAE colleagues carried on with their jobs. By the time we had 5 boxes we could start the process, with CNE, international and national observers as well as the representatives from each political party present as witnesses.

Our night however, was not to end happily. By around 10pm we started hearing that there had been an accident. This accident, serious in nature, was eventually confirmed. One PNTL car, coming back from Lolotoe sub-district, just as it was entering Maliana, veered on its side and crashed. It was a pick-up truck so all the officers in the back were thrown off the car. One died on impact and 3 others were seriously wounded by the time we got all the details. Later on, at 2am we heard the helicopter come. UN doesn't have the authorization to fly at night so it was ISF (International Stabilisation Force) that was able to come and collect the wounded to take them to Dili, however, another PNTL was pronounced dead even before getting in the helicopter. The other was medevac to Dili and is in critical condition with very little change of surviving and we have 3 more in the hospital in Maliana in the intensive care. Today, we found out that one the PNTL that died is the brother of one of our national STAE colleagues. He was 38, with 5 children and another one on the way. it was a very sad ending to such a momentous and historic occasion.

But in all, I am proud of Bobonaro and what its citizens have accomplished. It's a been a long road since independence and they have proved themselves capable of tolerance, peace and democracy. This makes me very happy; it should make the Timorese and the rest of the world very happy. The Timorese have spoken and their voices have been heard. They have fought for independence, they have fought for democracy and they have it!

Ba frente Timor!

P.S. It is now 6:50pm on Sunday and the results are as follows: CNRT has already 30 seats, FRETILIN has 25 and PD 8. FRENTI-MUDANCA has the remaining 2 - there are 65 seats in parliament...This is dangerous on many grounds! If FRETILIN and PD form a coalition - which they have already mentioned was a possibility - they will have enough seats to form a majority government, which will mean that the same thing that happened in 2007 will happen again: the party with the most votes failed to form a government. What could also happen is that the President, TMR, could ask CNRT to form a government - it was after all Xanana who backed his election in the presidential round - even if PD and FRETILIN came forth with a majority, which could also mean trouble. PD could also form a coalition with CNRT, which would be the best case scenario, but at this moment, anything can happen! Tensions are rising and you find people in corners discussing the likely outcomes... I hope, however, that the Timorese have learnt their lesson, I hope they understand what would happen with these three scenarios if they are not treaded lightly and with care. Please let them have the maturity to be wise in their decisions and please let the people understand!

Elections around the corner

The lights are on...albeit still with a few gaps, but they are ON! It wasn't a one off thing, it really happened and I wasn't dreaming!

And parliamentary elections are 2 days away!!

The ballot boxes have been sorted, prepared and sealed. There was a minor issue with the fact that the ballot papers are bigger than the actual boxes - seriously, they are the size of my entire arm, but with 21 parties running we knew it wouldn't be easy!
The ink has been shook, shaken, and stirred but we'll still have to remind our officials to shake them again, all day, during election day and make sure that people dip their finger right up to their cuticles - yes, these were our exact instructions!
Our officials have also been given their very bright neon pink shirts with matching purple hats - don't ask me why, I did not choose those colors.
The management team have all their STAE vests - we look very professional, Crocodile Dundee would be proud! At least now I won't have to wear everything around my neck, including my VHF radio :)
Our distribution plan is ready - I have been assigned this time to Cailaco sub-dsitrict, to the polling centers of Aituto and Raiheu, never having been there it will be an opportunity to explore some more of Bobonaro before leaving.
We are still, however, trying to figure out cars, with an additional 6 polling stations in the district and the fact that we need a lot more ballot boxes to accommodate our very big ballot papers we also need additional cars...just need to figure out from where to borrow them!
But a feeling of happiness and accomplishment is in the air. STAE team is happy... tired, but happy. Come Sunday, when the tabulation is over and the results are on their way to Dili, it will be celebration time and they are really looking forward to it, it's been a tough 6 months, but let's hope it will all be worth it.

Tomorrow we will have out distribution ceremony and in convoy, as before, we will go to each of the 87 polling stations to deliver the sensitive and non-sensitive materials along with STAE, CNE, and PNTL officials who will stay overnight, ready to open the vote at 7am on Saturday.

We are ready to rock&roll!!

Fingers crossed these elections go off smoothly, with no violence anywhere. Bobonaro is traditionally a very quiet and calm district, unlike Viqueque, Baucau, Dili and Ermera, which have already been flagged for probable violent outbursts. We have, neverthless, been told to prepare our 'Go Bag' in case of necessary emergency evacuation. Let's hope it doesn't come to that. I have confidence in the Timorese people and I believe they have learnt from past mistakes. This country needs peace and tolerance. Let the best party win and let the people be happy with their decision. It is their voice in the end that will be heard.

Vota Timor, vota!

Tears of joy

Elation!

Pure unmitigated happiness!

And yes, I almost went to tears when I was told that, as of today, Maliana, and all of Bobonaro district, will now have 24/7 electricity!!!!

M and I screamed and laughed with joy and hugged each other...only to be told to shush by our STAE colleagues who seem to be completely unfazed by the idea of having electricity ALL THE TIME!

We have light!! The light bulbs are on during the day, without the horrible and tiring noise of the generator!! Could this be true?! I really didn't think I would see this happen before I left!

Seriously, you cannot, or maybe you can, imagine how our life here in Maliana is going to change. How everyone's lives will change and with it their standards of living!

Electricity all day here means (for us anyways):

1. No longer showering in the dark in the morning or waiting for the light to come to shower at night;

2. No longer having to worry about food going bad because the fridge has been without electricity for more than one day;

3. Being able to use the oven during the day, the microwave (albeit being another luxury we do not have in our house but if we did we could!), the blender to make morning smoothies, the toaster for morning toast!!!

4. No longer being bored on the weekends because it was too hot to go outside and your computer didn’t have enough battery to watch movies all day - we can now actually watch more than one movie in a row during the day!!

5. Being able to turn on the fans during the day when it gets too hot - it's a tropical country for goodness sake, it IS too hot all the time!

6. And most importantly, no longer running out of water because our guards forgot to pump the tank during the night!!! We now have boundless amounts of running water!!

I really could go on!!

On the negative side though, this might mean that the Timorese will now have their music blasting at all hours of the day or that their parties never have to end with the shutting off of electricity! But I will remain optimistic and think, no, actually having electricity all the time now just means that they can have their parties, but they can have them more often and shorter since electricity is now a given and you no longer have to drink up every last hour of it as if you're afraid it will go out...because it won't!

And the funny thing is that just yesterday, we didn't have light until about 9pm, which is already more than 2 hours late. We had to use the generator, which eventually ran out of gasoline in a slow dying spurt and we were left in the dark with our flashlights, trying to play cards...because what else can you do when you know you can only have one light bulb and the fridge on in order to conserve energy! We even mentioned...maybe it's because they're changing the fuses (or whatever it is that you need to change in order to have electricity all the time) and it was probably that!

If only you could imagine how happy I am...with electricity!! It truly was one of man's greatest discoveries. I'm actually just upset that the Bobonaro residents don't seem to fathom the huge step that has been taken in their quality of life! They should be screaming for joy alongside me!

On the other hand, how sneaky is it of Xanana to do this three days before elections!! When people go to vote at 7am this Saturday, one thing they will most likely remember is the fact that they got dressed and "showered" (I actually have no idea of the morning cleaning rituals of the Bobonaro citizen!) with light that day. I'm guessing CNRT will have quite a big result in Bobonaro come Sunday's tabulation, let's see...

But for now, let there be light!!

Burn baby, burn!

Oh geez, these last three weeks have proven to be quite interesting indeed, as opposed to the mundane banality of daily life in Maliana in the past month or so...

Three weeks ago, I think a Tuesday, we were lazing about the house in the evening after dinner when our flatmate M starts screaming and calling our names and running from one side of the house to the other...my first thought was, the cats must be killing each other - we have two cats that have taken to wrangling at each other for control of their territory - or she saw a snake in the house, everything but what was really waiting for us outside! We all go out and a mere 30m from our front door, maybe less, a huge fire was blazing in our neighbor’s yard. The guards had set a palm tree on fire!!!! Who does that??? We called out to the guards to see what, why, wtf was going on and they very calmly told us "it was intentional”!!! May I remind you that it is now dry season in Maliana, it hasn't rained in I don't know how long and the earth is as dry as the desert. The guards said that the tree was dead so they were burning it...okay, normally when a tree is dead you cut it and use it for other purposes!! Needless to say the fire went on for a good hour or two, it spread, of course, to nearby palm trees; it was amazing that it didn’t spread further.

So that was Tuesday, three weeks ago...

On that same week, about two days after, as I was just leaving the house to go for my early evening run, our guards come running towards me and to the back of the house. They turn off the electricity, which had just come on. Sensing that something was wrong I followed the guards to the back of the house... The cable that connected our water tank to the mains burst into flames...if they hadn't caught it our house would most likely have caught on fire along with it...An electrician came by later and was able to isolate the cable and cut if off from the rest of the house's electrical wiring - we now need our neighbor's wire to pump water from the ground into our tank!

Also that week, or was it the week after, I'm losing track, our STAE colleagues had a wedding, a funeral and Maliana had the Anniversary of the Diocese - Catholics will know what that is - which meant practically no work that week! Seriously, we had a calendar with voter education activities for the entire week; we managed to get through two! The Diocese's anniversary though was a big hit in town! We had a fair - STAE even had its own stand - and food and music to our hearts content with the kids from the entire district dancing and singing - we even had a really cute boys’rap/breakdancing group - who knew Maliana was so hip ;)

The campaigns have also been in full swing for these past weeks, with each candidate - there are 21 parties vying for parliament seats - coming and promising the world if only the Timorese will vote for them. The campaigns have followed with all-night parties. These parties have led to drunken violence - we've had one guy stabbed in the foot and another one, a military officer, stabbed and killed in another party! Apparently, both incidents have been due to domestic reasons, classic guy sleeping with other guy's wife, but still! This has led to a banning of after-campaign parties...needless to say the ban hasn't work, only the other weekend, our own neighborhood had a campaign party that went from 8 in the evening until 5:45am, and the djs are the worse, when a song finishes the gap is so long until the next song that you are always hoping and wishing that that was it, the last song, until you hear the microphone again and their horrible singing starting again! This was two Saturdays ago, which wouldn’t have been a problem - you can always sleep in once the party is over - but we had been called to Dili for a training and we were to leave at 6am on that Sunday! By the time we arrived in Dili all we could pray for was a bed to crash on and some quiet! The party went on for longer than their work days go for!! I keep saying it and I'll keep repeating it, if only the Timorese worked as hard as they partied, the development of this country would be in a completely different ball game. My flatmate M, on the other hand, likes to think that this is what the Portuguese left behind, the need to party!!

So, we had the training in Dili - almost all of it in tetum so not much use to us unfortunately - the ballot paper ceremony, a quick visit from our Dear Leader - Tomas Cabral, Director General of STAE - to Maliana's STAE office and Big Brother's campaign...with the two fires, the two stabbings, the wedding, funeral, and the Diocese's anniversary, we've seen more action in these last three weeks than in nearly all four months in Maliana! What's going on?!

All I can say is "Thanks Maliana!" for keeping it interesting in these final weeks; at least we'll go out with a bang!

Big Brother came to town

Mao Boot (to be read Maun Bot) came to Maliana today. it means Big Brother. That is what people call Xanana Gusmao, Timor's Prime Minister and leader of the CNRT party, a contender for the legislative elections.

This morning, as always, on waking up, I turn to my right to see what time it is...I don't have an alarm clock so I do this by looking at my electricity extension which has a light on it, if the light is still on, I know it's far too early for me to be up since electricity gets cut off at 6:30am. Today, however, the light was on but by looking at the window I could tell that it was already later than that, it was 7:12 and the electricity was still on! To what did we owe this priviledge?? My flatmate J told me, Xanana is coming, that's why!

To this I can only think of two reasons and neither are good. The first is: Xanana is coming so he allows the District Administrator (DA) to keep the electricity on to remind the people of what a great leader he is (none of the other candidates were given the same priviledge when they came to campaign...) or the second would be: the District Administrator thought that if Xanana is coming he must have electricity, he's the Prime Minister after all...none of these reasons are good, they are quite awful actually!!! So, do I need to thank Mao Boot for our good fortune in our extra hours of light or the DA? We keep hearing rumors that Maliana is to have 24/7 electricity any day now...with our luck it will happen after we have already left!

Xanana came to Maliana to campaign for his party, CNRT, he came to promise more things that apparently he hasn't been able to accomplish this time around and he came to ask the people to keep their trust in Mao Boot. There were thousands of people, on foot and in dump trucks, all lined up at Maliana's football field listening entranced to Mao Boot speak. It's uncanny, and actually a bit disconcerting, the power that the myth of Xanana holds over the Timorese people! They are ready to trust him blindly... Kind of reminds of 1984's Big Brother...It's very likely that his party will have a high result but he will not, however, win the majority, he already failed to do it last time around so he will need to form a coalition, let's just hope that the people will understand this time. The 2006-07 violence sprung from the fact that the party with the most votes failed to win because it failed to create a coalition and the people didn't understand this and rebelled against the winning coalition...

Meanwhile, however, at STAE bobonaro headquarters, we're busy checking 64,900 ballot papers, ONE by ONE! The ballot papers arrived on Tuesday with a ceremony and much fanfare. This time, STAE ordered the printing to be made in Indonesia to safeguard against fraud, it also inlcuded some nifty secrets in each ballot paper to assure their authenticity - honestly, I'm quite impressed - our ballot papers in Portugal are quite humdrum compared to the snazzy Timorese ones!
We haven't even gotten through half today, with more than 10 pairs of able hands doing the job. Every little flaw, scratch or ink stain needed to be verified and recorded, we even had to wear gloves to make sure we didn't damage them in the process!

My back is sore and my hands stink from the medical gloves but I'm happy because this is actually the fun part of the process...that is until our colleagues start putting "Ai ai se eu te pego" music in the office while we're checking the papers! Please, someone do me a favor and kill Michel Telo, he's causing me headaches!!

Tomorrow is Saturday but a working day for us with quite a few more boxes of papers to check. The night watches have also started - the ballot papers need to be under constant vigilance and we take turns doing it - my shift starts tomorrow so no weekend rest for me.

Oh well, that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make, with elections only one week away and my departure only 3 weeks away, everything is greeted with a smile these days!