The Australian
Stephen Fitzpatrick, Dili, East Timor
June 27, 2006
IF Minister for State Ana Pessoa is chosen to replace Mari Alkatiri as East Timor's prime minister, it will take more than a little humility on the part of her former husband, Jose Ramos Horta.
The recently resigned foreign and defence minister said he was not ecstatic "about being ruled by my own ex-wife".
"My macho ego will not be very good," he joked, before insisting he thought Ms Pessoa would make an "excellent" leader.
But he also threw his own hat into the ring. "I will do it if I am persuaded that I am the only person that everyone else agrees with," he said.
"I'm just a little man. My ambition in life has never been to be prime minister of this or any other country."
Mr Ramos Horta, for years one of the most recognisable faces of East Timor's struggle for independence, managed to place himself at the centre of the country's latest political machinations.
His resignation on Sunday, apparently as a result of the ruling Fretilin party's refusal to sack deeply unpopular Dr Alkatiri as prime minister, was supposed to have been a secret, he claimed yesterday, "but somehow the media got hold of it". However, since the news was out, he said, he wanted to explain what had happened.
Word from Mr Ramos Horta on Sunday had been that he was not prepared to continue as foreign and defence minister under Dr Alkatiri "or any group related to him", and he revealed yesterday that he had informed the prime minister of his feelings by text message.
"I wrote to him that the time has come for each of us to act on the basis of our conscience," Mr Ramos Horta told reporters yesterday morning, shortly before Dr Alkatiri's sudden resignation changed the day's complexion radically. "He replied, 'What do you mean'," Mr Ramos Horta said. "I sent back an SMS saying, 'I intend to act on my conscience this afternoon, at 5pm'."
Thus are the cryptic workings of state in East Timor, resignation by SMS - and ones with multiple interpretations at that.
But even the master manipulators can be outmanoeuvred, as Mr Ramos Horta discovered, to his consternation.
Attempting to describe the impasse and the heavy heart with which he faced "a very serious obstacle, and that was the prime minister", Mr Ramos Horta was handed a note by his media adviser, Chris Santos. Looking suddenly pale, Mr Ramos Horta excused himself from the briefing room, saying, "I'm sorry, I must take a phone call."
He returned a moment later to announce that he was "a little person of no consequence in this planet and there is other news for you to cover. I think you should go to Dr Alkatiri's house".
Abandoning Mr Ramos Horta's office, the press throng reconvened at the prime minister's residence, which is guarded by Australian and Malaysian soldiers, to hear him make the announcement that increasingly vocal hordes of East Timorese have been demanding.
Mr Ramos Horta later used the speed with which the media contingent had left his office as proof of his minor role in events.
"Not even one journalist stayed behind to talk to me," he complained with mock bitterness late yesterday afternoon, before breaking into a grin.
terça-feira, junho 27, 2006
Ramos Horta and ex up for top job
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http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,19601092-2,00.html
MARI Alkatiri resigned as East Timor's prime minister yesterday and is expected to be charged with crimes against the state over the alleged distribution of weapons to a secret hit squad.
Dr Alkatiri's surprise resignation came a day after his ruling Fretilin party decided at an extraordinary meeting to stare down a demand by President Xanana Gusmao that the Prime Minister quit.
The partyroom had declared on Sunday that Dr Alkatiri should continue in his job despite Mr Gusmao earlier threatening his own resignation unless Dr Alkatiri went.
But yesterday Dr Alkatiri released a prepared statement, read out at his Dili home, saying: "I am ready to resign from my position of prime minister and a member of the Government of (East Timor) so as to avoid the resignation of His Excellency the President."
Dr Alkatiri's decision to sack a third of the East Timorese military earlier this year is widely blamed for the weeks of political and social unrest in the nation. The country is now patrolled by an Australian-led military and police taskforce, charged with restoring order.
Dr Alkatiri has also been accused of arming rebels with an instruction to assassinate political rivals - allegations he denies.
The nation's Chief Prosecutor, Longuinhos Monteiro, said yesterday he had issued a warrant for Dr Alkatiri's arrest on charges that the prime minister knew weapons were being distributed to rebels by his former interior minister, Rogerio Lobato.
"We signed the warrant this morning and he will be called for a hearing on Friday," Mr Monteiro said. "It's related to the matter of him having knowledge of the weapons distribution and not doing anything about it."
Mr Monteiro said Dr Alkatiri could face 15 years in jail.
Mr Lobato has already appeared in court on the matter after being seized by Australian troops. He implicated Dr Alkatiri in his evidence.
Dr Alkatiri's most likely replacement will be his deputy and Minister for State Ana Pessoa, although as a non-speaker of the local language, Tetum, she is unlikely to win the support of the bulk of East Timorese.
An alternative is Agriculture Minister Estanislau da Silva, who is also close to Dr Alkatiri and a member of the so-called Mozambique Group - East Timorese politicians who spent the bulk of the Indonesian occupation from 1975 to 1999 out of the country.
Other possibilities include Labour Minister Arsenio Bano, Health Minister Rui Maria de Arauzo and ambassador to the US Jose Luis Guterres, who failed in his challenge to Dr Alkatiri as Fretilin secretary-general at its national congress last month.
Dr Alkatiri, whose decision to quit prompted the resignation of six fellow cabinet members, refused to comment beyond his prepared statement yesterday.
However sources close to Dr Alkatiri confirmed yesterday he was annoyed with Australia's handling of his country's political crisis, including an apparent snub by Alexander Downer during the Australian Foreign Minister's recent flying visit to the East Timor capital, Dili.
Mr Downer apparently offended Dr Alkatiri by choosing to visit counterpart Jose Ramos Horta when he was expected in the prime minister's office.
Mr Ramos Horta, however, insisted yesterday that there had been no foreign involvement in what he described as "a mess of our own making".
Mr Ramos Horta announced his own resignation on Sunday night in a move that increased the pressure on Dr Alkatiri.
In Batam, Indonesia, John Howard welcomed Dr Alkatiri's resignation and called on the fledgling nation to settle "who governs" as quickly as possible.
"It is not for me to nominate the prime minister of that country, it's an independent sovereign country," the Prime Minister said. "It is for me to legitimately encourage people in East Timor in positions of authority and leadership to resolve their differences and get on with governing the country more effectively."
Mr Howard was speaking shortly before meeting Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, with whom he discussed East Timor. East Timor's constitution allows the country's prime minister to submit their resignation to the president. Mr Gusmao, who yesterday called a meeting of the decision-making Council of State, will then be required to ask the ruling party to offer a replacement.
He has the further option of dissolving parliament, but this is unlikely to occur since Dr Alkatiri's party, Fretilin, holds 55 seats in the 88-seat house.
Mr Ramos Horta, although not a Fretilin member, could also be nominated by the one-time revolutionary party of struggle as a consensus candidate.
Mr Ramos Horta said yesterday that he was prepared to accept the job, "but I would have to be persuaded, and I believe we have some excellent people we have to give a chance to".
He said his own resignation as foreign minister and defence minister, lodged in disappointment at Fretilin's failure to sack Dr Alkatiri, was irrelevant now, "since all ministerial positions are now held over until a new government is formed".
He said he expected national elections to be held by March next year, as originally planned.
Mr Howard said Dr Alkatiri's resignation seemed to be part of the process of "working out the difficulties".
The Prime Minister rejected any suggestion Australia had been complicit in the downfall of Dr Alkatiri, and denied the presence of Australian troops in Dili had contributed.
Dr Yudhoyono said last night that he had rung Mr Gusmao and welcomed the proposed resignation if it led to a resolution of the political crisis.
He stressed that Indonesia, which ended its rule after the tiny nation voted for independence in 1999, was not interested in intervening in East Timor.
Major General Peter Abigail of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute said he expected "few tears would be shed" by the Howard Government at Dr Alkatiri's departure.
"I would anticipate you will see Ramos Horta coming back into the fray," he said.
Major General Abigail said one of the big problems facing East Timor was an acute shortage of "capable" leadership contenders.
Mr Ramos Horta was one of the few East Timorese with enough national and international credibility to meet the requirements, he said.
Mr Downer, speaking in Paris, welcomed what he described as "East Timorese now working through their political problems".
"If that involves the resignation of the prime minister, that's a decision for them," the Foreign Minister said.
He said he did not expect the country's revered President to resign, as he had earlier threatened.
"But we would emphasise that this whole question of whether Alkatiri is the prime minister or whether he is not is a matter for the East Timorese. We welcome the fact that they are taking steps to try and resolve their political problems, tumultuous as those steps may be."
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd warned yesterday against Australian peacekeepers being dragged into the country's worsening political crisis.
Mr Rudd said the turmoil underlined the need for a new UN Security Council resolution to provide a comprehensive mandate for the Australian military and police deployment.
"Given the present fluidity on the ground in East Timor, it remains Labor's view that the sooner a new resolution is adopted as a comprehensive legal basis for Australia's troop and police deployment in East Timor, the better," he said.
Tradução:
Ramos Horta e ex prontos para o cargo
The Australian
Stephen Fitzpatrick, Dili, East Timor
Junho 27, 2006
Se a Ministra do Estado Ana Pessoa é escolhida para substituir Mari Alkatiri como Primeira-Ministra de Timor-Leste, obrigará a mais do que a um pouco de humildade da parte do seu antigo marido, José Ramos Horta.
O recentemente resignado ministro dos estrangeiros e da defesa disse que não estava maravilhado "por ser mandado pela própria ex-mulher ".
"O meu ego macho não ficará muito bem," gozou, antes de insistir que pensava que a Senhora Pessoa faria uma "excelente" líder.
Mas também atirou o seu chapéu para o ringue. "Fálo-ei se me persuadirem que sou a única pessoa com que todos os outros concordarem," disse.
"Sou só um homem pequeno. A minha ambição na vida nunca foi ser primeiro-ministro deste ou de qualquer outro país."
Mr Ramos Horta, durante anos uma das mais reconhecidas caras da luta pela independência de Timor-Leste, manobrou para se colocar ele próprio no centro das últimas maquinações políticas do país.
A sua resignação no domingo, aparentemente como resultado da recusa do partido no poder, a Fretilin, em despedir o profundamente impopular Dr Alkatiri como primeiro-ministro, era suposto ser um segredo, clamou ele ontem, "mas de algum modo os media tomaram conhecimento ". Contudo, desde que a notícia saíu, disse, que queria explicar o que tinha acontecido.
A palavra de Mr Ramos Horta no domingo fora que não estava preparado para continuar a ser ministro dos estrangeiros e da defesa do Dr Alkatiri "ou de qualquer grupo relacionado com ele ", e revelou ontem que tinha informado o primeiro-ministro dos seus sentimentos por uma mensagem de texto.
"Escrevi-lhe que chegara o tempo de cada um de nós agir na base da sua consciência," contou aos repórteres ontem de manhã Mr Ramos Horta, pouco antes da repentina resignação do Dr Alkatiri's ter mudado o aspecto do dia radicalmente. "Ele respondeu, 'O que é que quer dizer'," Mr Ramos Horta disse. "eu mandei-lhe um SMS dizendo, 'Tenho a intenção de agir de acordo com a minha consciência esta tarde, às 5pm'."
Assim são os trabalhos ocultos do estado em Timor-Leste, resignação por SMS – e com múltiplas interpretações.
Mas mesmo os mestres manipuladores podem ser ultrapassados, como Mr Ramos Horta descobriu, para sua consternação.
Tentando descrever o impasse e o coração pesado com que enfrentava "um obstáculo muito difícil, que era o primeiro-ministro", a Mr Ramos Horta foi dada uma nota pelo seu conselheiro de imprensa, Chris Santos. Empalidecendo de repente, Mr Ramos Horta pediu desculpa e saiu da sala, dizendo, "Lamento, mas tenho de receber uma chamada telefónica."
Regressou um momento mais tarde para anunciar que era "uma pessoa pequena sem importância neste planeta e há outras notícias para cobrirem. Penso que devem ir a casa do Dr Alkatiri ".
Abandonando o gabinete de Mr Ramos Horta, os media foram em tropel para a residência do primeiro-ministro, que é guardada por soldados Australianos e Malários, para o ouvirem fazer o anúncio que crescentes hordas vocais de Timorenses têm pedido.
Mr Ramos Horta mais tarde usou a velocidade com que o contingente dos media tinha deixado o seu gabinete como prova do seu papel menor nos eventos.
"Nem um jornalista ficou para trás para falar comigo," queixou-se com troça azeda ontem pelo fim da tarde, antes de arreganhar os dentes.
Ramos Horta is quoted in this article as saying "I will do it if I am persuaded that I am the only person that everyone else agrees with".
Does he seriously think FRETLIN will even consider him to be the next PM. He must be disillusioned. FRETILIN will choose someone appropriate for the job. Someone intelligent, someone with diginity and someone who is loyal to the people and to FRETILIN.
The media keeps taking about how deeply unpopular Mari Alkitiri is. The population is ONE MILLION not 5000-7000 people that was repoterd to be in the streets celebrating the PMs resignation.
As the days unfold. Lets see who is popular and who isnt! VIVA FRETILIN!!
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