Legislator urges Parliament be dissolved to resolve East Timor's crisis

Jakarta Post
11.06.2006

MAUBESSE, East Timor (AP):

A legislator on Sunday urged that Parliament be dissolved to help end East Timor's political and security crisis, with the president naming a transitional government that would rule until elections scheduled for next year.

The proposal by Manuel Tilman, a member of Parliament who helped draft the fledgling country's constitution, came shortly before police fired in the air and threatened to use a grenade to break up a volatile dispute involving hundreds of East Timorese.

The incident showed that tensions aren't limited to the capital.

Some 600 striking soldiers were dismissed in March, triggering clashes with loyalist forces and leading to gang warfare in Dili last month. At least 30 people have been killed, and the death toll may be higher. More than 100,000 people fled their homes tomakeshift shelters and camps in the capital.

Both the clash and Tilman's news conference occurred in Maubesse, a town about 75 kilometers from Dili that is a stronghold for the rebellious troops.

The reason for the standoff was not immediately clear, but it appeared to escalate after a man was stabbed in the side.

Military and civilian police intervened as skirmishes broke out between two groups. Police fired in the air and threatened to use a grenade, and other gunfire erupted from an unknown source, sending people fleeing in panic.

A group of Australian peacekeepers watched the developments from a hilltop Portuguese villa but didn't intervene.

Shortly before, Aflredo Reinado, commander of the 600 dismissed soldiers who complained about discrimination in the 1,400-member military, told reporters that he was willing to step aside and let politicians and intellectuals try to work out asolution.

"Force is not the solution. The constitution is not the solution. The constitution is flawed," Reinado said, claiming individual politicians have hijacked the system.

Tilman agreed. He said he and a group of about 20intellectuals will meet this week, without the military and politicians, to try to craft a path out of the current chaos.

"One of the important questions is to suspend the competence of Parliament by presidential decree, and all of the power of Parliament and government will go to the president," Tilman said.

"Then the president can nominate a transitional government for one year."

To do this, he said, President Xanana Gusmao would have to revoke sections of the constitution on the grounds that the current crisis can't be resolved by the government.

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