Feliz Ano Novo 2008!
Happy New Year 2008!
Monday, December 31, 2007
Friday, December 28, 2007
Rebuilding East Timor
The Canberra Times
December 28, 2007
Rebuilding East Timor
By Jill Jolliffe
Four months after the Parliamentary Majority Alliance (AMP)
Government of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao took power, people are
asking whether it can really turn their fortunes around next year.
About 100,000 people displaced by violence last year remain in tent
settlements and the capital has endured months of enervating power
cuts since it came to office.
More worrying for many is the fear of an insurgency led by renegade
major Alfredo Reinado, who recently staged a military parade of
several hundred armed followers in the town of Gleno, despite a
United Nations demand that he be put on trial.
Gusmao's multi-party coalition was elected in July and sworn into
office on August 8. Voters saw it as an alternative to authoritarian
rule by Fretilin, which they blamed for last year's violence. Today
discontent is not confined to Fretilin supporters: AMP backers are
also doubting the new Government's ability to deliver.
The coalition hopes that its ambitious budget for next year will cure
many of the problems affecting average Timorese and buy it time to
deal with the political problems.
In the hot seat is Emilia Pires, the country's feisty new Finance
Minister, who presented the $US348.1million ($A400million) budget,
the largest since independence.
She is known as a tough dealer who has survived considerable
hardship. Her large family has a reputation for brilliance, and
brother Alfredo is State Secretary for Natural Resources. One of five
children, Pires was raised in the Timorese countryside. She was
precociously bright, perhaps making up for a congenital bone disorder.
When civil war broke out in 1975, the family was evacuated to
Australia. The memory is still vivid. ''I was 14, and we had to get
through a park where fighting was very strong,'' she recalled,
''There was a Norwegian freighter evacuating people, but it couldn't
dock in the harbour, so we had to board it on the high seas.''
A landing craft ferried their crowd of anguished refugees. ''We had
to climb a ladder onto it,'' she recalls, ''I am handicapped, and my
sister couldn't walk. I don't know how I got on, it was as in a
dream.'' The future minister spent the following years in Melbourne
as a refugee, making up for this poor start in life with dedicated
study and an iron will to succeed. She earned a mathematics degree
from Latrobe University and undertook postgraduate studies in
government law at Melbourne. At 22 she began work as a junior public
servant with the Victorian government, where she spent most of her
early working years.
In 1999 the UN advertised for qualified East Timorese to help rebuild
the country. She was hired to formulate the first Timorese National
Development Plan, assisted by UN experts, and also wrote an economic
program known as Vision 2020. Following this success she had two
years as a World Bank adviser to the Palestinian Authority, and found
time in 2004 to do a masters degree at the London School of Economics.
When Gusmao was planning a government in the lead-up to July
elections, she was the obvious choice to run the economy in the
Timorese political world she is the one figure with an intellect to
match that of ex-prime minister Mari Alkatiri. A key flaw of his
government was that it regularly failed to implement its budgets, and
international donors became concerned that unused funds were not not
filtering down to the people.
Next year's budget is designed to reconcile warring factions,
eliminate bureaucracy and offer economic relief to the poor. It
abolishes income tax for low- to medium-earning Timorese, provides
tax concessions for foreign investors, gives $US16 million in
pensions to veterans of the liberation war against Indonesia and sets
up a pension scheme for the elderly. There is priority funding to
streamline the public service, ending political appointments in
favour of a merit-based system, with training for those wishing to
pursue career opportunities.
Pires bridles at the suggestion that this is a simple fix to
artificially stimulate the economy through cash grants. ''It's not so
radical,'' she said, ''but an interim measure to move the economy. It
had stagnated and we had to do something to move it.'' She said she
had warned the private sector that the policy ''won't last forever'',
but is a result of the peak in oil revenues that can be used to build
other sectors of the economy.
Former Fretilin minister Arsenio Bano sees it differently. He
describes it is a ''honeymoon budget'' for the AMP, designed ''to
make a group of people happy''. ''Of course, Fretilin can't disagree
with that but we do question the capacity of the Government to
deliver. It has promised a lot of things,'' he said.
He said the money for war veterans was admirable, but asked whether
the Government planned to increase the sum next year. ''Old-age
pensions are a good idea, but are we sure they are sustainable?''
Pires is sticking to her guns. She said work had been delayed by
Fretilin's failure to hand over power in an orderly fashion. She
alleged that documents were destroyed or removed in all but one
ministry, including lists of refugee figures.
She said that although the Government had not succeeded in persuading
camp-dwellers to go home, an appointed task force had had a
breakthrough: 68 families from one of the biggest Dili camps had
agreed to move into new houses, and others are expected to follow.
Dili's power supply was restored to normal by mid-December, ending
Fretilin criticism that the AMP couldn't even keep the lights on, and
President Jose Ramos Horta and Prime Minister Gusmao continue
negotiations with Reinado for his surrender.
The security situation improved this year with the conviction of
various perpetrators of last year's violence, as demanded by the UN.
These include ex-minister Rogerio Lobato, sentenced to 7 1/2 years on
homicide and gun-dealing charges, senior police officer Abilio
Mesquita sentenced to four years for abuse of authority and
disturbing public order and four government soldiers receiving terms
of up to 12 years for the massacre of eight unarmed policemen and the
wounding of 25 others.
Life has largely returned to normal in Dili and tensions should be
further alleviated when the cash from the budget starts flowing, but
uncertainty continues. Taxi driver Filomeno Belo thinks long and hard
about the question of whether the AMP can deliver on its promises.
''I'm not optimistic. If we want prosperity and development the
security issues have to be solved,'' he finally replies. ''While
Alfredo is still marching around in the mountains there's a problem.''
Jill Jolliffe is a special correspondent for The Canberra Times.
December 28, 2007
Rebuilding East Timor
By Jill Jolliffe
Four months after the Parliamentary Majority Alliance (AMP)
Government of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao took power, people are
asking whether it can really turn their fortunes around next year.
About 100,000 people displaced by violence last year remain in tent
settlements and the capital has endured months of enervating power
cuts since it came to office.
More worrying for many is the fear of an insurgency led by renegade
major Alfredo Reinado, who recently staged a military parade of
several hundred armed followers in the town of Gleno, despite a
United Nations demand that he be put on trial.
Gusmao's multi-party coalition was elected in July and sworn into
office on August 8. Voters saw it as an alternative to authoritarian
rule by Fretilin, which they blamed for last year's violence. Today
discontent is not confined to Fretilin supporters: AMP backers are
also doubting the new Government's ability to deliver.
The coalition hopes that its ambitious budget for next year will cure
many of the problems affecting average Timorese and buy it time to
deal with the political problems.
In the hot seat is Emilia Pires, the country's feisty new Finance
Minister, who presented the $US348.1million ($A400million) budget,
the largest since independence.
She is known as a tough dealer who has survived considerable
hardship. Her large family has a reputation for brilliance, and
brother Alfredo is State Secretary for Natural Resources. One of five
children, Pires was raised in the Timorese countryside. She was
precociously bright, perhaps making up for a congenital bone disorder.
When civil war broke out in 1975, the family was evacuated to
Australia. The memory is still vivid. ''I was 14, and we had to get
through a park where fighting was very strong,'' she recalled,
''There was a Norwegian freighter evacuating people, but it couldn't
dock in the harbour, so we had to board it on the high seas.''
A landing craft ferried their crowd of anguished refugees. ''We had
to climb a ladder onto it,'' she recalls, ''I am handicapped, and my
sister couldn't walk. I don't know how I got on, it was as in a
dream.'' The future minister spent the following years in Melbourne
as a refugee, making up for this poor start in life with dedicated
study and an iron will to succeed. She earned a mathematics degree
from Latrobe University and undertook postgraduate studies in
government law at Melbourne. At 22 she began work as a junior public
servant with the Victorian government, where she spent most of her
early working years.
In 1999 the UN advertised for qualified East Timorese to help rebuild
the country. She was hired to formulate the first Timorese National
Development Plan, assisted by UN experts, and also wrote an economic
program known as Vision 2020. Following this success she had two
years as a World Bank adviser to the Palestinian Authority, and found
time in 2004 to do a masters degree at the London School of Economics.
When Gusmao was planning a government in the lead-up to July
elections, she was the obvious choice to run the economy in the
Timorese political world she is the one figure with an intellect to
match that of ex-prime minister Mari Alkatiri. A key flaw of his
government was that it regularly failed to implement its budgets, and
international donors became concerned that unused funds were not not
filtering down to the people.
Next year's budget is designed to reconcile warring factions,
eliminate bureaucracy and offer economic relief to the poor. It
abolishes income tax for low- to medium-earning Timorese, provides
tax concessions for foreign investors, gives $US16 million in
pensions to veterans of the liberation war against Indonesia and sets
up a pension scheme for the elderly. There is priority funding to
streamline the public service, ending political appointments in
favour of a merit-based system, with training for those wishing to
pursue career opportunities.
Pires bridles at the suggestion that this is a simple fix to
artificially stimulate the economy through cash grants. ''It's not so
radical,'' she said, ''but an interim measure to move the economy. It
had stagnated and we had to do something to move it.'' She said she
had warned the private sector that the policy ''won't last forever'',
but is a result of the peak in oil revenues that can be used to build
other sectors of the economy.
Former Fretilin minister Arsenio Bano sees it differently. He
describes it is a ''honeymoon budget'' for the AMP, designed ''to
make a group of people happy''. ''Of course, Fretilin can't disagree
with that but we do question the capacity of the Government to
deliver. It has promised a lot of things,'' he said.
He said the money for war veterans was admirable, but asked whether
the Government planned to increase the sum next year. ''Old-age
pensions are a good idea, but are we sure they are sustainable?''
Pires is sticking to her guns. She said work had been delayed by
Fretilin's failure to hand over power in an orderly fashion. She
alleged that documents were destroyed or removed in all but one
ministry, including lists of refugee figures.
She said that although the Government had not succeeded in persuading
camp-dwellers to go home, an appointed task force had had a
breakthrough: 68 families from one of the biggest Dili camps had
agreed to move into new houses, and others are expected to follow.
Dili's power supply was restored to normal by mid-December, ending
Fretilin criticism that the AMP couldn't even keep the lights on, and
President Jose Ramos Horta and Prime Minister Gusmao continue
negotiations with Reinado for his surrender.
The security situation improved this year with the conviction of
various perpetrators of last year's violence, as demanded by the UN.
These include ex-minister Rogerio Lobato, sentenced to 7 1/2 years on
homicide and gun-dealing charges, senior police officer Abilio
Mesquita sentenced to four years for abuse of authority and
disturbing public order and four government soldiers receiving terms
of up to 12 years for the massacre of eight unarmed policemen and the
wounding of 25 others.
Life has largely returned to normal in Dili and tensions should be
further alleviated when the cash from the budget starts flowing, but
uncertainty continues. Taxi driver Filomeno Belo thinks long and hard
about the question of whether the AMP can deliver on its promises.
''I'm not optimistic. If we want prosperity and development the
security issues have to be solved,'' he finally replies. ''While
Alfredo is still marching around in the mountains there's a problem.''
Jill Jolliffe is a special correspondent for The Canberra Times.
Monday, December 24, 2007
MERRY CHRISTMAS and a Happy New Year 2008 !
May this Christmas and the New Year bring Peace and Prosperity to Timor-Leste.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
O primeiro timorense diplomado pela Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade de Coimbra (FCTUC) vai ser uma geóloga
Coimbra, Timor-Leste 19/12/2007 14:26 (LUSA)
Temas: Economia, Negócios e Finanças, Energia, Educação, Universidades
Maria do Céu Sérgio (texto) e Paulo Novais (fotos), da Agência Lusa
Coimbra, 19 Dez (Lusa) - O primeiro timorense diplomado pela Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade de Coimbra (FCTUC) vai ser uma geóloga que sonha usar o "canudo" para que Timor-Leste beneficie do petróleo e de outras riquezas locais.
A estudar em Coimbra e sem ter voltado ao país natal há seis anos, Norberta Soares da Costa está agora a um passo de completar a licenciatura em Geologia na FCTUC, faltando-lhe apenas uma cadeira para a terminar.
Quando isso acontecer, no início de 2008, a jovem realizará o sonho que acalenta desde que decidiu tirar este curso e que a motivou na escolha de Geologia: desenvolver a sua actividade profissional em Timor-Leste, tudo fazendo para que os ganhos financeiros do petróleo e outras riquezas naturais da sua terra ali permaneçam e sejam usadas para diminuir a pobreza.
"Estou um bocado triste com a realidade actual, temo que os timorenses sejam afastados das decisões sobre a exploração dos recursos naturais do país", disse hoje a finalista da FCTUC à agência Lusa.
Sempre sorridente e bem disposta, a jovem de 26 anos refere que os recursos naturais "são muito importantes para o povo timorense e para o seu futuro".
"Há poucos timorenses a trabalhar nessas áreas, receio que essas riquezas sejam retiradas aos timorenses", referiu.
Norberta explicou à Lusa que, no início da década, a decisão sobre o curso superior que iria tirar foi inspirada numa sugestão de um seu professor do Colégio de S. José de Balide, em Dili, ao alertar, precisamente, para a escassez de timorenses no sector petrolífero.
"Fiquei com essa ideia. 'Mas como vou lá chegar?', pensei. Informei-me e, quando concorri à bolsa, Geologia foi a minha primeira opção", adiantou.
Agora, seis anos volvidos, está prestes a concretizar o sonho de obter um curso universitário e espera, com o "canudo", dar corpo a outra aspiração, que é a de pôr essa formação superior ao serviço de Timor-Leste.
Ao contrário do que se passa no país que adoptou durante estes seis anos, em que a ameaça do desemprego paira sobre os recém-licenciados, a jovem timorense acha que não vai ser difícil encontrar trabalho quando regressar a Dili, tendo em conta a falta de quadros no país.
Norberta integrou um grupo de cerca de 300 jovens timorenses que, em 2001, vieram estudar para Portugal.
"Calhou Coimbra, não foi uma escolha minha, mas fiquei contente: o meu pai conhecia a história da cidade e da Universidade", confessou.
Integrou-se num grupo de alunos que iniciou o curso de Geologia em 2002/2003 e incluía jovens de África (Angola), Ásia e Europa, o que lhe valeu a designação de "o ano dos três continentes".
Beneficiando de uma bolsa do Instituto Português de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento, Norberta realizou a sua formação na FCTUC, faltando-lhe apenas a cadeira de Física I, do 2º ano, para obter a licenciatura.
"Se tudo correr bem, quero voltar para Timor-Leste", explica a jovem, que não esconde, contudo, o gosto que teria de aprofundar a sua formação fazendo, nomeadamente, o mestrado em Geologia do Petróleo, uma iniciativa pioneira da FCTUC apoiada pela empresa Petrobrás.
Prestes a abandonar Coimbra - embora não dê como garantida já a conclusão do curso - Norberta refere que a experiência na cidade universitária foi muito positiva, apesar das dificuldades iniciais relacionadas com as diferenças culturais, climáticas e gastronómicas e da barreira derivada do seu desconhecimento inicial da língua portuguesa.
"Estou muito feliz com as amizades que fiz aqui e como o apoio que tive dos colegas, professoras e pessoas mais próximas", expressou a jovem.
Ultrapassadas as dificuldades do curso e a pressão gerada pela necessidade de manter a bolsa, Norberta diz que se integrou na vida académica coimbrã com gosto e, quando sair de Coimbra, em 2008, vai deixar para trás muitos amigos e levar bastantes saudades.
Lusa/Fim
Temas: Economia, Negócios e Finanças, Energia, Educação, Universidades
Maria do Céu Sérgio (texto) e Paulo Novais (fotos), da Agência Lusa
Coimbra, 19 Dez (Lusa) - O primeiro timorense diplomado pela Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade de Coimbra (FCTUC) vai ser uma geóloga que sonha usar o "canudo" para que Timor-Leste beneficie do petróleo e de outras riquezas locais.
A estudar em Coimbra e sem ter voltado ao país natal há seis anos, Norberta Soares da Costa está agora a um passo de completar a licenciatura em Geologia na FCTUC, faltando-lhe apenas uma cadeira para a terminar.
Quando isso acontecer, no início de 2008, a jovem realizará o sonho que acalenta desde que decidiu tirar este curso e que a motivou na escolha de Geologia: desenvolver a sua actividade profissional em Timor-Leste, tudo fazendo para que os ganhos financeiros do petróleo e outras riquezas naturais da sua terra ali permaneçam e sejam usadas para diminuir a pobreza.
"Estou um bocado triste com a realidade actual, temo que os timorenses sejam afastados das decisões sobre a exploração dos recursos naturais do país", disse hoje a finalista da FCTUC à agência Lusa.
Sempre sorridente e bem disposta, a jovem de 26 anos refere que os recursos naturais "são muito importantes para o povo timorense e para o seu futuro".
"Há poucos timorenses a trabalhar nessas áreas, receio que essas riquezas sejam retiradas aos timorenses", referiu.
Norberta explicou à Lusa que, no início da década, a decisão sobre o curso superior que iria tirar foi inspirada numa sugestão de um seu professor do Colégio de S. José de Balide, em Dili, ao alertar, precisamente, para a escassez de timorenses no sector petrolífero.
"Fiquei com essa ideia. 'Mas como vou lá chegar?', pensei. Informei-me e, quando concorri à bolsa, Geologia foi a minha primeira opção", adiantou.
Agora, seis anos volvidos, está prestes a concretizar o sonho de obter um curso universitário e espera, com o "canudo", dar corpo a outra aspiração, que é a de pôr essa formação superior ao serviço de Timor-Leste.
Ao contrário do que se passa no país que adoptou durante estes seis anos, em que a ameaça do desemprego paira sobre os recém-licenciados, a jovem timorense acha que não vai ser difícil encontrar trabalho quando regressar a Dili, tendo em conta a falta de quadros no país.
Norberta integrou um grupo de cerca de 300 jovens timorenses que, em 2001, vieram estudar para Portugal.
"Calhou Coimbra, não foi uma escolha minha, mas fiquei contente: o meu pai conhecia a história da cidade e da Universidade", confessou.
Integrou-se num grupo de alunos que iniciou o curso de Geologia em 2002/2003 e incluía jovens de África (Angola), Ásia e Europa, o que lhe valeu a designação de "o ano dos três continentes".
Beneficiando de uma bolsa do Instituto Português de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento, Norberta realizou a sua formação na FCTUC, faltando-lhe apenas a cadeira de Física I, do 2º ano, para obter a licenciatura.
"Se tudo correr bem, quero voltar para Timor-Leste", explica a jovem, que não esconde, contudo, o gosto que teria de aprofundar a sua formação fazendo, nomeadamente, o mestrado em Geologia do Petróleo, uma iniciativa pioneira da FCTUC apoiada pela empresa Petrobrás.
Prestes a abandonar Coimbra - embora não dê como garantida já a conclusão do curso - Norberta refere que a experiência na cidade universitária foi muito positiva, apesar das dificuldades iniciais relacionadas com as diferenças culturais, climáticas e gastronómicas e da barreira derivada do seu desconhecimento inicial da língua portuguesa.
"Estou muito feliz com as amizades que fiz aqui e como o apoio que tive dos colegas, professoras e pessoas mais próximas", expressou a jovem.
Ultrapassadas as dificuldades do curso e a pressão gerada pela necessidade de manter a bolsa, Norberta diz que se integrou na vida académica coimbrã com gosto e, quando sair de Coimbra, em 2008, vai deixar para trás muitos amigos e levar bastantes saudades.
Lusa/Fim
O Orçamento Geral do Estado (OGE) para o ano de 2008 foi hoje aprovado pelo Parlamento Nacional Timorense
Díli, Timor-Leste 19/12/2007 16:19 (LUSA)
Temas: orçamento, Política, Parlamento, Partidos e movimentos
Díli, 19 Dez (Lusa) - O Orçamento Geral do Estado (OGE) para o ano de 2008 foi hoje aprovado pelo Parlamento Nacional Timorense, com os votos contra da Fretilin e uma divisão de voto na bancada do Partido de Unidade Nacional (PUN).
A Proposta de OGE 2008 foi aprovada com 39 votos a favor, 20 votos contra e 4 abstenções.
A votação do orçamento na especialidade ficou agendada para a próxima sexta-feira, após o feriado religioso de quinta-feira, o Idul Adha, dia do sacrifício para os muçulmanos.
A Fretilin, sem surpresa, votou contra o OGE apresentado na terça-feira ao parlamento pelo primeiro-ministro, Xanana Gusmão.
O maior partido timorense, na oposição, continua a não reconhecer a legitimidade do IV Governo Constitucional, formado pela Aliança para Maioria Parlamentar (AMP) a 08 de Agosto de 2007.
Maior surpresa registou-se na bancada do PUN, partido que elegeu três deputados nesta legislatura e cuja líder, Fernanda Borges, se absteve na votação, enquanto outro deputado do partido votou a favor da Proposta de OGE da AMP.
No OGE defendido por Xanana Gusmão como o do "ano da reforma", o total estimado de receitas (petrolíferas, não petrolíferas, verbas dos parceiros de desenvolvimento e outras receitas não fiscais) é de 1.385 milhões de dólares norte-americanos (962 millhões de euros).
As dotações orçamentais totalizam um montante de 348,1 millhões de dólares (241,8 milhões de euros) e, excluindo os órgãos autónomos, de 333,7 milhões de dólares (231,9 milhões de euros).
Das diferentes dotações, 48 milhões de dólares são para Salários e Vencimentos (33,3 milhões de euros) e 144,2 milhões de dólares para Bens e Serviços (100 milhões de euros), uma fatia do OGE especialmente criticada pela oposição).
A dotação para Capital Menor é de 23,9 milhões de dólares (16,6 milhões de euros) e de 68 milhões de dólares (47,2 milhões de euros) para Capital de Investimento.
O OGE contempla ainda uma dotação de 63,8 milhões de dólares (44,3 milhões de euros) para Pagamentos de Transferências Públicas.
Para 2008, o montante de transferências do Fundo Petrolífero, outro dos pontos recorrentes do debate orçamental, não pode exceder 294 milhões de dólares (204 milhões de euros).
"Demasiada prudência é uma contradição", explicou Xanana Gusmão na abertura do debate, a propósito do Fundo Petrolífero, ao mesmo tempo que elogiou a gestão feita pelos governos anteriores dos recursos do Mar de Timor.
"Não vamos fazer do Fundo do Petróleo uma bandeira política", garantiu o primeiro-ministro, anunciando, porém, que o governo pretende introduzir em 2008 alterações às regras do fundo.
PRM.
Lusa/fim
Temas: orçamento, Política, Parlamento, Partidos e movimentos
Díli, 19 Dez (Lusa) - O Orçamento Geral do Estado (OGE) para o ano de 2008 foi hoje aprovado pelo Parlamento Nacional Timorense, com os votos contra da Fretilin e uma divisão de voto na bancada do Partido de Unidade Nacional (PUN).
A Proposta de OGE 2008 foi aprovada com 39 votos a favor, 20 votos contra e 4 abstenções.
A votação do orçamento na especialidade ficou agendada para a próxima sexta-feira, após o feriado religioso de quinta-feira, o Idul Adha, dia do sacrifício para os muçulmanos.
A Fretilin, sem surpresa, votou contra o OGE apresentado na terça-feira ao parlamento pelo primeiro-ministro, Xanana Gusmão.
O maior partido timorense, na oposição, continua a não reconhecer a legitimidade do IV Governo Constitucional, formado pela Aliança para Maioria Parlamentar (AMP) a 08 de Agosto de 2007.
Maior surpresa registou-se na bancada do PUN, partido que elegeu três deputados nesta legislatura e cuja líder, Fernanda Borges, se absteve na votação, enquanto outro deputado do partido votou a favor da Proposta de OGE da AMP.
No OGE defendido por Xanana Gusmão como o do "ano da reforma", o total estimado de receitas (petrolíferas, não petrolíferas, verbas dos parceiros de desenvolvimento e outras receitas não fiscais) é de 1.385 milhões de dólares norte-americanos (962 millhões de euros).
As dotações orçamentais totalizam um montante de 348,1 millhões de dólares (241,8 milhões de euros) e, excluindo os órgãos autónomos, de 333,7 milhões de dólares (231,9 milhões de euros).
Das diferentes dotações, 48 milhões de dólares são para Salários e Vencimentos (33,3 milhões de euros) e 144,2 milhões de dólares para Bens e Serviços (100 milhões de euros), uma fatia do OGE especialmente criticada pela oposição).
A dotação para Capital Menor é de 23,9 milhões de dólares (16,6 milhões de euros) e de 68 milhões de dólares (47,2 milhões de euros) para Capital de Investimento.
O OGE contempla ainda uma dotação de 63,8 milhões de dólares (44,3 milhões de euros) para Pagamentos de Transferências Públicas.
Para 2008, o montante de transferências do Fundo Petrolífero, outro dos pontos recorrentes do debate orçamental, não pode exceder 294 milhões de dólares (204 milhões de euros).
"Demasiada prudência é uma contradição", explicou Xanana Gusmão na abertura do debate, a propósito do Fundo Petrolífero, ao mesmo tempo que elogiou a gestão feita pelos governos anteriores dos recursos do Mar de Timor.
"Não vamos fazer do Fundo do Petróleo uma bandeira política", garantiu o primeiro-ministro, anunciando, porém, que o governo pretende introduzir em 2008 alterações às regras do fundo.
PRM.
Lusa/fim
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Anarchy lurking beneath restless peace
The Australian
Stephen Fitzpatrick, Dili | December 17, 2007
IN East Timor, they say, you only really know a man once he's
betrayed you. Until then, you can never be entirely sure where he stands.
But now the culture of single-mindedness and absolute secrecy that
helped create one of the modern era's signal armed insurrection
success stories - a dogged battle against 24 years of Indonesian
occupation - is also at the heart of what's holding back the nascent
democracy north of Darwin, insiders say.
Players in the project to create a nation out of the ruins of
long-held rivalries and grudges admit theirs is an endeavour for
which there is no guidebook and little guarantee of success. They're
writing the rules as they go.
Things have improved since the low point of April last year, when
Dili burned, dozens died and thousands took flight - but calling that
progress isn't saying a whole lot.
As one extremely senior source warns, "if you sent the (Australian
and New Zealand) troops home this morning, the place would be in
flames again by the afternoon".
There is an uneasy peace in the capital and across the countryside;
every day that goes by without a major incident builds on the
tentative confidence that things could eventually work out. Fingers
are crossed.
On his lightning visit to the capital last Friday, Kevin Rudd
declared he had "noted carefully" the pleas from President Jose Ramos
Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao that Australia's military
contribution continue for at least another year.
In reality - and people like Ramos Horta admit it privately - the
commitment is likely to go a whole lot longer.
The Australian-led military presence, known as the International
Stabilisation Force, enables the UN to get on with its uncertain task
of fashioning a state from the past's ashes.
Infantry foot patrols on the streets of Dili, as well as cantonments
elsewhere in the country, secure the ground for the actual UN
intervention, which is run out of the organisation's Department of
Peacekeeping Operations.
Although the official mandate ends in February and must be reassessed
by the Security Council in New York, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
admitted on Friday that the UN was in it for the long haul.
"I will continue to advocate, in my interaction with member states,
for the United Nations' long-term investment in Timor-Leste," he said
during a visit to Dili which coincided with Mr Rudd's.
While the former South Korean foreign minister also insisted that
last year's crisis "should not be seen as a failure of all that had
been undertaken until then", observers agree it was the UN's
premature withdrawal from its East Timor task then that allowed
tensions to explode.
In the eyes of many, it was a profound betrayal by Australia (which
had provided troops in blue berets) and the rest of the world: the
latest in a history of abandonments of the fragile country that was
first colonised by Lisbon and then brutalised by Jakarta.
Rumours of new violence typically involve absconded military
policeman Major Alfredo Reinado, wanted on murder charges relating to
last year's chaos.
A trial has begun in his absence; Reinado says he won't front it
until those he blames for the violence - including Gusmao and Ramos
Horta - are brought before a separate military tribunal.
Reinado, in efforts to keep himself at the centre of East Timor's
political process, has worked hard at building a cult of personality,
lately carrying with it the suggestion that half of the country's
disgruntled military are about to defect to his ragtag band.
Disorganised and aimless as they are, Reinado's followers were
nonetheless able recently to stage a parade in the central mountains
town of Gleno, at which he boasted to hundreds of supporters that he
would march on Dili and bring down Gusmao's administration. It's an
ambition that puts Reinado close to the disgruntled opposition
Fretilin party - a bitter and resentful group that insists it, not
Gusmao's National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT), is the
legitimate vehicle of government since it won the greatest number of
votes in June elections (Gusmao ultimately formed a minority
administration in coalition with three other groups).
Reinado says Gusmao has abandoned a protesting band of soldiers known
collectively as 'the Petitioners", about 600 members - or about a
third of East Timor's military - whose sackings early last year by
then Fretilin prime minister Mari Alkatiri sparked violence that was
waiting to happen.
Speaking from his distant hiding place by mobile phone to The
Australian, Reinado warned that a new crisis was just around the
corner and that he would not surrender ahead of it.
"If I give myself up right now, will that solve the problem? No. I'm
also a victim," he said. "Who is behind this crisis - where is the
trigger, who has the responsibility?"
Reinado claims the Government is "collapsing", although the view of
many diplomatic sources in East Timor is that his occasional
interventions from outside the main arena actually indicate a certain
amount of stability at this stage in the game.
"It's a Mexican standoff," says one. "He knows the Aussies could take
him out in an instant if they really wanted, so he continues to
bluster but do nothing; at the same time the ISF know that if they
pop him or put him in jail the uprising in his name could be huge."
Most agree the genie would be extremely hard to stuff back into its
bottle if Reinado were killed.
An angry and often irrational enigma, Reinado remains the word on all
lips in Dili, and perhaps that's because he represents precisely what
all players most fear: a return to the anarchy lurking just beyond
view. As recently as yesterday, the fugitive cancelled a planned
secret meeting with Ramos Horta and Gusmao in Dili, citing "security
concerns".
But Reinado, and the other two main issues at hand - the petitioners'
continuing demands for reintegration into the military, as well as
the unsolved problem of internally displaced people, whose precarious
and often violent tent settlements dot Dili and the fringes of other
main towns - are distractions from the more important business of
building institutions such as an independent judiciary and a working
security sector.
By way of example, UN police on secondment from various national
forces, including Australia's, talk disparagingly of an East Timorese
army lacking in discipline and entirely out of control.
Rivalries between the national police and military have played a
major part in the country's recent troubles, and UN police say they
are still regularly harassed by drunken Timorese soldiers with loaded
weapons and little respect for authority.
In a recent security analysis, Australian military academic Bob Lowry
noted that "although an effective police force is essential,
Timor-Leste does not need a military, but it has one: and there is
little prospect of any political configuration having the courage to
demobilise it".
The issue is mostly a historical one, with the national military
having been built on the back of the Falintil guerilla force that
defeated Indonesia's colonial interests. The trick, according to
Lowry, is going to be somehow coaxing the existing army into
functioning within a properly regulated structure.
One of his recommendations - that the "veterans" of the guerilla
struggle be dealt with separately from the country's actual defence
needs - has already been addressed, with recent payments of a bit
over $US9500 ($11,000) each to more than 200 qualifying ex-soldiers.
The national budget being enacted also includes a pay rise for
serving military - a crucial issue in addressing any kind of
institutional development. There is a further plan to recruit about
300 new members at officer level in an attempt to head off the
problem of military lawlessness.
But rule-of-law questions generally remain a huge problem, and that's
where the continued need for Australian soldiers - there are almost
800 of them in East Timor, supplemented by 170 Kiwis - comes in.
For instance, martial arts gangs, a legacy of the Indonesian years
when creative ways of fighting a guerilla war were nutted out by
leaders including Gusmao, now almost have a life of their own.
Doctors at Dili's main hospital tell of being threatened with
crowbars while trying to resuscitate patients; one assailant
allegedly stabbed a rival, followed his victim to the hospital and
then terrorised staff for long enough to ensure the man bled to death.
"People are one day going to start asking questions about why Xanana
doesn't have the guts to admit this gang problem is the result of the
intense culture of secrecy and violence that he was largely
responsible for creating," another diplomat says.
There is still the scent of betrayal in the air; its taste will be
bitter indeed should it ever be fully unleashed.
Stephen Fitzpatrick, Dili | December 17, 2007
IN East Timor, they say, you only really know a man once he's
betrayed you. Until then, you can never be entirely sure where he stands.
But now the culture of single-mindedness and absolute secrecy that
helped create one of the modern era's signal armed insurrection
success stories - a dogged battle against 24 years of Indonesian
occupation - is also at the heart of what's holding back the nascent
democracy north of Darwin, insiders say.
Players in the project to create a nation out of the ruins of
long-held rivalries and grudges admit theirs is an endeavour for
which there is no guidebook and little guarantee of success. They're
writing the rules as they go.
Things have improved since the low point of April last year, when
Dili burned, dozens died and thousands took flight - but calling that
progress isn't saying a whole lot.
As one extremely senior source warns, "if you sent the (Australian
and New Zealand) troops home this morning, the place would be in
flames again by the afternoon".
There is an uneasy peace in the capital and across the countryside;
every day that goes by without a major incident builds on the
tentative confidence that things could eventually work out. Fingers
are crossed.
On his lightning visit to the capital last Friday, Kevin Rudd
declared he had "noted carefully" the pleas from President Jose Ramos
Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao that Australia's military
contribution continue for at least another year.
In reality - and people like Ramos Horta admit it privately - the
commitment is likely to go a whole lot longer.
The Australian-led military presence, known as the International
Stabilisation Force, enables the UN to get on with its uncertain task
of fashioning a state from the past's ashes.
Infantry foot patrols on the streets of Dili, as well as cantonments
elsewhere in the country, secure the ground for the actual UN
intervention, which is run out of the organisation's Department of
Peacekeeping Operations.
Although the official mandate ends in February and must be reassessed
by the Security Council in New York, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
admitted on Friday that the UN was in it for the long haul.
"I will continue to advocate, in my interaction with member states,
for the United Nations' long-term investment in Timor-Leste," he said
during a visit to Dili which coincided with Mr Rudd's.
While the former South Korean foreign minister also insisted that
last year's crisis "should not be seen as a failure of all that had
been undertaken until then", observers agree it was the UN's
premature withdrawal from its East Timor task then that allowed
tensions to explode.
In the eyes of many, it was a profound betrayal by Australia (which
had provided troops in blue berets) and the rest of the world: the
latest in a history of abandonments of the fragile country that was
first colonised by Lisbon and then brutalised by Jakarta.
Rumours of new violence typically involve absconded military
policeman Major Alfredo Reinado, wanted on murder charges relating to
last year's chaos.
A trial has begun in his absence; Reinado says he won't front it
until those he blames for the violence - including Gusmao and Ramos
Horta - are brought before a separate military tribunal.
Reinado, in efforts to keep himself at the centre of East Timor's
political process, has worked hard at building a cult of personality,
lately carrying with it the suggestion that half of the country's
disgruntled military are about to defect to his ragtag band.
Disorganised and aimless as they are, Reinado's followers were
nonetheless able recently to stage a parade in the central mountains
town of Gleno, at which he boasted to hundreds of supporters that he
would march on Dili and bring down Gusmao's administration. It's an
ambition that puts Reinado close to the disgruntled opposition
Fretilin party - a bitter and resentful group that insists it, not
Gusmao's National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT), is the
legitimate vehicle of government since it won the greatest number of
votes in June elections (Gusmao ultimately formed a minority
administration in coalition with three other groups).
Reinado says Gusmao has abandoned a protesting band of soldiers known
collectively as 'the Petitioners", about 600 members - or about a
third of East Timor's military - whose sackings early last year by
then Fretilin prime minister Mari Alkatiri sparked violence that was
waiting to happen.
Speaking from his distant hiding place by mobile phone to The
Australian, Reinado warned that a new crisis was just around the
corner and that he would not surrender ahead of it.
"If I give myself up right now, will that solve the problem? No. I'm
also a victim," he said. "Who is behind this crisis - where is the
trigger, who has the responsibility?"
Reinado claims the Government is "collapsing", although the view of
many diplomatic sources in East Timor is that his occasional
interventions from outside the main arena actually indicate a certain
amount of stability at this stage in the game.
"It's a Mexican standoff," says one. "He knows the Aussies could take
him out in an instant if they really wanted, so he continues to
bluster but do nothing; at the same time the ISF know that if they
pop him or put him in jail the uprising in his name could be huge."
Most agree the genie would be extremely hard to stuff back into its
bottle if Reinado were killed.
An angry and often irrational enigma, Reinado remains the word on all
lips in Dili, and perhaps that's because he represents precisely what
all players most fear: a return to the anarchy lurking just beyond
view. As recently as yesterday, the fugitive cancelled a planned
secret meeting with Ramos Horta and Gusmao in Dili, citing "security
concerns".
But Reinado, and the other two main issues at hand - the petitioners'
continuing demands for reintegration into the military, as well as
the unsolved problem of internally displaced people, whose precarious
and often violent tent settlements dot Dili and the fringes of other
main towns - are distractions from the more important business of
building institutions such as an independent judiciary and a working
security sector.
By way of example, UN police on secondment from various national
forces, including Australia's, talk disparagingly of an East Timorese
army lacking in discipline and entirely out of control.
Rivalries between the national police and military have played a
major part in the country's recent troubles, and UN police say they
are still regularly harassed by drunken Timorese soldiers with loaded
weapons and little respect for authority.
In a recent security analysis, Australian military academic Bob Lowry
noted that "although an effective police force is essential,
Timor-Leste does not need a military, but it has one: and there is
little prospect of any political configuration having the courage to
demobilise it".
The issue is mostly a historical one, with the national military
having been built on the back of the Falintil guerilla force that
defeated Indonesia's colonial interests. The trick, according to
Lowry, is going to be somehow coaxing the existing army into
functioning within a properly regulated structure.
One of his recommendations - that the "veterans" of the guerilla
struggle be dealt with separately from the country's actual defence
needs - has already been addressed, with recent payments of a bit
over $US9500 ($11,000) each to more than 200 qualifying ex-soldiers.
The national budget being enacted also includes a pay rise for
serving military - a crucial issue in addressing any kind of
institutional development. There is a further plan to recruit about
300 new members at officer level in an attempt to head off the
problem of military lawlessness.
But rule-of-law questions generally remain a huge problem, and that's
where the continued need for Australian soldiers - there are almost
800 of them in East Timor, supplemented by 170 Kiwis - comes in.
For instance, martial arts gangs, a legacy of the Indonesian years
when creative ways of fighting a guerilla war were nutted out by
leaders including Gusmao, now almost have a life of their own.
Doctors at Dili's main hospital tell of being threatened with
crowbars while trying to resuscitate patients; one assailant
allegedly stabbed a rival, followed his victim to the hospital and
then terrorised staff for long enough to ensure the man bled to death.
"People are one day going to start asking questions about why Xanana
doesn't have the guts to admit this gang problem is the result of the
intense culture of secrecy and violence that he was largely
responsible for creating," another diplomat says.
There is still the scent of betrayal in the air; its taste will be
bitter indeed should it ever be fully unleashed.
Fugitive Reinado misses last chance for negotiation
East Timor's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao has denounced the absence of a fugitive who led a rebellion in 2006 against the government at scheduled peace talks with top officials.
The government had launched a massive manhunt for Alfredo Reinado, formerly of the military police, when he escaped from jail in August 2006.
President Jose Ramos-Horta called off the search in June in a bid to start a dialogue.
"I will give Alfredo and Salsinha [one of Alfredo's key deputies] one last chance to come, and if they don't, that would mean that they are not contributing anything and do not want to settle this problem," Mr Gusmao said.
The pair did not use a last chance to meet offered by the government, Mr Gusmao said, noting now "there will be no other way", though he did not elaborate.
Factional fighting among security forces left at least 37 people dead in the April and May 2006 rebellion, and forced international peacekeepers to be despatched to restore calm.
Reinado was arrested on charges of illegal weapons distribution, desertion and attempted murder following the unrest, but later escaped from jail.
He last met with government officials in August.
- AFP
The government had launched a massive manhunt for Alfredo Reinado, formerly of the military police, when he escaped from jail in August 2006.
President Jose Ramos-Horta called off the search in June in a bid to start a dialogue.
"I will give Alfredo and Salsinha [one of Alfredo's key deputies] one last chance to come, and if they don't, that would mean that they are not contributing anything and do not want to settle this problem," Mr Gusmao said.
The pair did not use a last chance to meet offered by the government, Mr Gusmao said, noting now "there will be no other way", though he did not elaborate.
Factional fighting among security forces left at least 37 people dead in the April and May 2006 rebellion, and forced international peacekeepers to be despatched to restore calm.
Reinado was arrested on charges of illegal weapons distribution, desertion and attempted murder following the unrest, but later escaped from jail.
He last met with government officials in August.
- AFP
Friday, December 14, 2007
Secretary-General's address to the Parliament of Timor-Leste
Dili, Timor-Leste, 14 December 2007
Your Excellency, President of the National Parliament,
Your Excellency, President of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste,
Your Excellency, Prime Minister and Cabinet, Chief Justice
Distinguished Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Distinguished Members of the Parliament,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thank you for your kind and moving words. It is an honour for me to be here and receive such a warm and whole-hearted welcome from all of the political parties.
Above all, let me thank you and the people of Timor-Leste for the warm welcome I have been accorded since my arrival this morning. I am privileged to have this opportunity to address you, so early in my tenure.
As an Asian Secretary-General, I also feel both moved and proud to visit this country, where, since 1999, we have undertaken one the most formidable responsibilities ever given to the United Nations.
In the eight years since 1999, and especially with the developments last year, we have learnt the profound importance of working in continued and steadfast partnership with you, as you consolidate the foundations of democratic governance to ensure enduring stability and development. The Security Council reflected this when it established UNMIT, the fifth UN operation to be deployed here -- an integrated mission which brings together the entire UN family under the leadership of my Special Representative, Atul Khare.
The crisis that Timor-Leste experienced last year should not be seen as a failure of all that had been undertaken until then. Perhaps it was a sign that the institutions of this new State had not yet reached the stage where they were strong enough to deal with the serious challenges that emerged. This is not uncommon in the earliest life of a country. Timor-Leste was, and remains, a young nation that needs more support.
The true measure of success is not whether all the problems of Timor-Leste are resolved quickly. Many tasks will require long-term efforts. As in any country, new challenges will always arise, Rather, success should be measured by the way challenges are addressed. If solutions to the country's problems are reached through constructive and broad discussions and debate, that is a form of success. If consensual or at least compromise approaches can be agreed upon among all stakeholders, that too is a mark of success.
And you have many successes to be proud of since the events of last year's crisis. This includes, crucially, the work to stabilize the security environment and maintain overall stability. By the time the UNMIT Police had reached full strength in March of this year, the number of security incidents had dropped considerably. The country's National Police and Armed Forces have played a commendable role. Improved security conditions paved the way for presidential and parliamentary elections earlier this year -- the first national elections since your independence.
You can also count successes in the work to consolidate democracy. This year's milestone elections marked another important step forward. The elections were largely peaceful and, according to all observers, met broad international standards. Let me congratulate the people of Timor-Leste for the successful conduct of these elections.
As elected parliamentarians, you now have a crucial role to play. You are the representatives through whom the people of Timor-Leste will make their voices heard over the next five years. They have high expectations of you. They expect you to debate issues that reflect the will and preoccupations of all Timorese. They expect you to work together to achieve common goals and to build a better society for the benefit of all the men and women of Timor-Leste. And they expect you to rise above partisan considerations and promote national unity.
I commend the constructive spirit in which all you have carried out your parliamentary duties in your first few months in office. I encourage you to sustain this positive spirit and to reach out across all parties and communities in the months and years to come.
Your Excellency, President of Timor-Leste,
Your Excellency, President of the National Parliament,
Distinguished Members of Parliament,
As we know, elections are only the beginning of a process, not the end goal. Differences and disputes that arise can and must be resolved in a peaceful and democratic manner. Processes and institutions founded on the principle of democratic governance must be carefully nurtured. This means promoting inclusiveness and broad participation in decision-making. It means ensuring transparency and accountability in the affairs of government. And it means responding effectively to the needs of the people.
I therefore appeal to you, all the parties in this important chamber, and to the country's entire leadership, to work together and give primary consideration to the collective interests of the Timorese people. I also call on you, every citizen -- men and women, young people and elders -- to each play their role in building a democratic society and in fostering reconciliation.
Through the challenges you have faced, you know well that it is much harder to build than to tear down. Though you may have differences of political opinion, Timor Leste depends on the whole of Timorese society being united in the efforts to build your nation.
I know the challenges ahead are enormous. There is a need to review and strengthen the security sector, as well as governance and the rule of law, including the justice system. Economic and social development must be accelerated. And measures must be taken to address unemployment, particularly among young people. For real progress to be made, the underlying causes of the crisis need to be addressed.
I am confident that Timor-Leste will make progress in all these areas. You have many advantages -- the energy and potential of your youth; the demonstrated commitment of your citizens to democratic processes; the dedication of your leaders to promote the interests of the people; and the resources of the Timor Sea, to name just a few.
You also have the sustained support and partnership of the entire United Nations family. We will remain at your side as you work to consolidate democracy and good governance. We will remain at your side as you strive to uphold the rule of law and promote human rights. We will remain at your side in the efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals – through reducing poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation, gender discrimination and gender-based violence.
In all these efforts, the UN is cooperating with many international and bilateral organizations and donors working in partnership with the Timorese. Such cooperation is crucial for international support to be effective.
I am heartened that the Government has endorsed the compact between Timor-Leste and the international community. The compact is designed to assist in coordinating international and national resources and assistance programmes. It focuses on six areas -- public safety and security; elections; the justice system; the public sector; youth employment and skills development; and social reinsertion. All of these are interdependent. They must be addressed together, with the engagement and support of Timorese society as a whole.
Your Excellencies,
Distinguished Parliamentarians,
Ladies and Gentleman,
The road to Timor-Leste's nationhood was long. It required difficult decisions and severe sacrifices, throughout which your people displayed exceptional courage.
The road to building enduring, stable and democratic institutions, underpinned by the rule of law, will be long too.
Your most powerful tool, as ever, is the exceptional spirit and valiance of the Timorese people.
Throughout our eight years of partnership, the people of Timor-Leste have looked decisively to the future – a future of which they themselves are the architects. That is the spirit which I have witnessed today. And that is the spirit that continues to inspire and inform our partnership. We will remain your trusted allies as you continue on your journey.
Thank you very much. Obrigado.
Your Excellency, President of the National Parliament,
Your Excellency, President of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste,
Your Excellency, Prime Minister and Cabinet, Chief Justice
Distinguished Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Distinguished Members of the Parliament,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thank you for your kind and moving words. It is an honour for me to be here and receive such a warm and whole-hearted welcome from all of the political parties.
Above all, let me thank you and the people of Timor-Leste for the warm welcome I have been accorded since my arrival this morning. I am privileged to have this opportunity to address you, so early in my tenure.
As an Asian Secretary-General, I also feel both moved and proud to visit this country, where, since 1999, we have undertaken one the most formidable responsibilities ever given to the United Nations.
In the eight years since 1999, and especially with the developments last year, we have learnt the profound importance of working in continued and steadfast partnership with you, as you consolidate the foundations of democratic governance to ensure enduring stability and development. The Security Council reflected this when it established UNMIT, the fifth UN operation to be deployed here -- an integrated mission which brings together the entire UN family under the leadership of my Special Representative, Atul Khare.
The crisis that Timor-Leste experienced last year should not be seen as a failure of all that had been undertaken until then. Perhaps it was a sign that the institutions of this new State had not yet reached the stage where they were strong enough to deal with the serious challenges that emerged. This is not uncommon in the earliest life of a country. Timor-Leste was, and remains, a young nation that needs more support.
The true measure of success is not whether all the problems of Timor-Leste are resolved quickly. Many tasks will require long-term efforts. As in any country, new challenges will always arise, Rather, success should be measured by the way challenges are addressed. If solutions to the country's problems are reached through constructive and broad discussions and debate, that is a form of success. If consensual or at least compromise approaches can be agreed upon among all stakeholders, that too is a mark of success.
And you have many successes to be proud of since the events of last year's crisis. This includes, crucially, the work to stabilize the security environment and maintain overall stability. By the time the UNMIT Police had reached full strength in March of this year, the number of security incidents had dropped considerably. The country's National Police and Armed Forces have played a commendable role. Improved security conditions paved the way for presidential and parliamentary elections earlier this year -- the first national elections since your independence.
You can also count successes in the work to consolidate democracy. This year's milestone elections marked another important step forward. The elections were largely peaceful and, according to all observers, met broad international standards. Let me congratulate the people of Timor-Leste for the successful conduct of these elections.
As elected parliamentarians, you now have a crucial role to play. You are the representatives through whom the people of Timor-Leste will make their voices heard over the next five years. They have high expectations of you. They expect you to debate issues that reflect the will and preoccupations of all Timorese. They expect you to work together to achieve common goals and to build a better society for the benefit of all the men and women of Timor-Leste. And they expect you to rise above partisan considerations and promote national unity.
I commend the constructive spirit in which all you have carried out your parliamentary duties in your first few months in office. I encourage you to sustain this positive spirit and to reach out across all parties and communities in the months and years to come.
Your Excellency, President of Timor-Leste,
Your Excellency, President of the National Parliament,
Distinguished Members of Parliament,
As we know, elections are only the beginning of a process, not the end goal. Differences and disputes that arise can and must be resolved in a peaceful and democratic manner. Processes and institutions founded on the principle of democratic governance must be carefully nurtured. This means promoting inclusiveness and broad participation in decision-making. It means ensuring transparency and accountability in the affairs of government. And it means responding effectively to the needs of the people.
I therefore appeal to you, all the parties in this important chamber, and to the country's entire leadership, to work together and give primary consideration to the collective interests of the Timorese people. I also call on you, every citizen -- men and women, young people and elders -- to each play their role in building a democratic society and in fostering reconciliation.
Through the challenges you have faced, you know well that it is much harder to build than to tear down. Though you may have differences of political opinion, Timor Leste depends on the whole of Timorese society being united in the efforts to build your nation.
I know the challenges ahead are enormous. There is a need to review and strengthen the security sector, as well as governance and the rule of law, including the justice system. Economic and social development must be accelerated. And measures must be taken to address unemployment, particularly among young people. For real progress to be made, the underlying causes of the crisis need to be addressed.
I am confident that Timor-Leste will make progress in all these areas. You have many advantages -- the energy and potential of your youth; the demonstrated commitment of your citizens to democratic processes; the dedication of your leaders to promote the interests of the people; and the resources of the Timor Sea, to name just a few.
You also have the sustained support and partnership of the entire United Nations family. We will remain at your side as you work to consolidate democracy and good governance. We will remain at your side as you strive to uphold the rule of law and promote human rights. We will remain at your side in the efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals – through reducing poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation, gender discrimination and gender-based violence.
In all these efforts, the UN is cooperating with many international and bilateral organizations and donors working in partnership with the Timorese. Such cooperation is crucial for international support to be effective.
I am heartened that the Government has endorsed the compact between Timor-Leste and the international community. The compact is designed to assist in coordinating international and national resources and assistance programmes. It focuses on six areas -- public safety and security; elections; the justice system; the public sector; youth employment and skills development; and social reinsertion. All of these are interdependent. They must be addressed together, with the engagement and support of Timorese society as a whole.
Your Excellencies,
Distinguished Parliamentarians,
Ladies and Gentleman,
The road to Timor-Leste's nationhood was long. It required difficult decisions and severe sacrifices, throughout which your people displayed exceptional courage.
The road to building enduring, stable and democratic institutions, underpinned by the rule of law, will be long too.
Your most powerful tool, as ever, is the exceptional spirit and valiance of the Timorese people.
Throughout our eight years of partnership, the people of Timor-Leste have looked decisively to the future – a future of which they themselves are the architects. That is the spirit which I have witnessed today. And that is the spirit that continues to inspire and inform our partnership. We will remain your trusted allies as you continue on your journey.
Thank you very much. Obrigado.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Nobel official says peace prize is no magic wand
unday December 9, 10:10 AM
OSLO (Reuters) - The Nobel Peace Prize has occasionally affected
world events, but it is more of a microphone to broadcast the views
of the winner than a magic wand to change things, a senior Nobel official said.
Geir Lundestad, head of the Nobel Institute in Oslo and secretary to
the Norwegian committee that selects the laureates, said the peace
prize could open many doors, but it only rarely enabled the winners
to change the world.
"The prize is primarily a high honor," Lundestad told reporters
during a recent visit to the Institute. "It also acts as a
loudspeaker and a microphone for the lesser-known laureates."
"It can obviously not produce peace. It is no magic wand -- that goes
without saying," he said.
Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore will receive the Nobel Peace Prize
in the Norwegian capital on Monday with the U.N. Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Announced in October, the 10 million Swedish crown ($1.55 million)
award went to them for spreading public awareness and furthering the
science of climate change.
Gore and IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri will receive the prize while
governments are convened at a U.N. climate conference in Bali,
Indonesia, to try to launch negotiations for a treaty to succeed the
Kyoto protocol curbing greenhouse gas emissions.
Gore said upon arriving in Oslo on Friday, that if the prize helped
further those talks, it would be a good thing.
The peace prize has sometimes offered protection to the winners
against their countries' rulers, as noted by the 1983 laureate Lech
Walesa of Poland and the Soviet dissident physicist Andrei Sakharov
who got the prize in 1975.
"It also opens virtually all doors," Lundestad said, citing the
example of South African Bishop Desmond Tutu who was invited to
Ronald Reagan's White House to delivery his message about the evils
of apartheid only after he won the prize in 1984.
"And very occasionally, but only very occasionally, it can influence
politics on the ground," Lundestad said.
Perhaps the best example, he said, was the 1996 prize to Bishop
Carlos Belo and Jose Ramos Horta. The prize-winners themselves said
the award was influential in helping East Timor break away from
Indonesia in 1999 and gain independence in 2002.
Before winning the prize, Ramos Horta traveled the world seeking
support, but no one wanted to see him or finance his movement, so he
slept in railway stations, Lundestad said.
Lundestad said East Timor gained independence mainly because of
economic, social and political collapse in Indonesia at the end of the 1990s.
"But the prize certainly contributed. The world certainly cared about
what was happening on that tiny half of that tiny island," he said.
(Editing by Caroline Drees)
OSLO (Reuters) - The Nobel Peace Prize has occasionally affected
world events, but it is more of a microphone to broadcast the views
of the winner than a magic wand to change things, a senior Nobel official said.
Geir Lundestad, head of the Nobel Institute in Oslo and secretary to
the Norwegian committee that selects the laureates, said the peace
prize could open many doors, but it only rarely enabled the winners
to change the world.
"The prize is primarily a high honor," Lundestad told reporters
during a recent visit to the Institute. "It also acts as a
loudspeaker and a microphone for the lesser-known laureates."
"It can obviously not produce peace. It is no magic wand -- that goes
without saying," he said.
Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore will receive the Nobel Peace Prize
in the Norwegian capital on Monday with the U.N. Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Announced in October, the 10 million Swedish crown ($1.55 million)
award went to them for spreading public awareness and furthering the
science of climate change.
Gore and IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri will receive the prize while
governments are convened at a U.N. climate conference in Bali,
Indonesia, to try to launch negotiations for a treaty to succeed the
Kyoto protocol curbing greenhouse gas emissions.
Gore said upon arriving in Oslo on Friday, that if the prize helped
further those talks, it would be a good thing.
The peace prize has sometimes offered protection to the winners
against their countries' rulers, as noted by the 1983 laureate Lech
Walesa of Poland and the Soviet dissident physicist Andrei Sakharov
who got the prize in 1975.
"It also opens virtually all doors," Lundestad said, citing the
example of South African Bishop Desmond Tutu who was invited to
Ronald Reagan's White House to delivery his message about the evils
of apartheid only after he won the prize in 1984.
"And very occasionally, but only very occasionally, it can influence
politics on the ground," Lundestad said.
Perhaps the best example, he said, was the 1996 prize to Bishop
Carlos Belo and Jose Ramos Horta. The prize-winners themselves said
the award was influential in helping East Timor break away from
Indonesia in 1999 and gain independence in 2002.
Before winning the prize, Ramos Horta traveled the world seeking
support, but no one wanted to see him or finance his movement, so he
slept in railway stations, Lundestad said.
Lundestad said East Timor gained independence mainly because of
economic, social and political collapse in Indonesia at the end of the 1990s.
"But the prize certainly contributed. The world certainly cared about
what was happening on that tiny half of that tiny island," he said.
(Editing by Caroline Drees)
Saturday, December 8, 2007
O retorno de Timorleste online
Pedimos desculpas por estarmos desatulizados por muito tempo.
Prometemos regressar a fornecer noticias actulizadas sobre Timor-Leste na medida do possivel aparir do proximo ano 2008.
Ate la tenham um Feliz Natal e um Ano Novo Cheias de Alegria e Festas.
We apologize for been outdated for so long. We promise to provide current news on Timor-Leste, whenever possible, starting next year 2008. Until then wishes of Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year with lots of parties.
Moderator
Prometemos regressar a fornecer noticias actulizadas sobre Timor-Leste na medida do possivel aparir do proximo ano 2008.
Ate la tenham um Feliz Natal e um Ano Novo Cheias de Alegria e Festas.
We apologize for been outdated for so long. We promise to provide current news on Timor-Leste, whenever possible, starting next year 2008. Until then wishes of Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year with lots of parties.
Moderator
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