International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS)

245.

Panel Title            : STATE-BUILDING IN EAST-TIMOR

Chair                      : Moises Silvia Fernandes

Panel Abstract    :

Rebuilding post-colonial or post-conflict states has been a very difficult task to accomplish. The attempts to establish viable and stable political entities in the Pacific and in Africa have in large part failed. The international intervention for democratisation in the post 1990 has generated more questions than answers. The international intervention for democratisation is beset by the paradoxical nature which entails such expansive efforts like simultaneous peacebuilding and nationbuilding and yet remains delimited in the supportive role of restoration of "sovereignty". Inability to mediate between these two competing and at times contradictory roles had led to difficulty in the democratisation. The case of East-Timor, which became independent from Indonesia in May 2002, seemed more promising at first. It was one of the most comprehensive and consolidated international efforts, especially unprecedented in UN history, when the territory became de facto protectorate of the international body in the transient period leading up to the independence. Although subjected to the criticism of Ian Martin himself, the head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in East-Timor (UNAMET) and other high ranking UN officials, the international effort set the country on the path towards democratisation. However the process has been largely a top-down affair, without greater involvement of East-Timorese in the peace process and in setting their own independent economic agenda. The establishment of procedural democracy alone is not sufficient to set a nation on the course of stability and democracy. Failure to incorporate various inherent fissures in the society through the total and rightful participation of East-Timorese in the nationbuilding process has led to the persistence of divisions. In April 2006, severe violence erupted and plunged the country in a deep crisis. Although many observers argued that the crisis would dwindle away with the replacement of Marí Alkatiri by the Peace Nobel Laureate José Ramos Horta in the premiership that was not the case (Why?). On the contrary, the political crisis deepened while the security situation has not improved considerably. The year 2007 will therefore be crucial in determining the future of East-Timor. With presidential and parliamentary elections taking place this year, the leaders of East-Timor have the chance to stop the crisis and to bring the country back on track.

This panel will try to unpack political developments, efforts regarding transitional justice and the politics of international intervention in the democratisation of East-Timor since 2002. It will also look at underlying factors that have been contributing to the current crisis and will try to come up with some possible solutions for the issue of state-building in the newest nation in the region.

Participants                         :

Rui Graca Feijo

Paper Title            : Rebuilding East Timor

Abstract                :

Independence and Foreign Aid: the interplay of actors in the process of rebuilding East Timor. My paper will address the general question of the interplay betwenn the local and the international actors in the process, using examplles from diverse origin. It will start with a comparison between what the Timorese authoritues have asked from the UN, what the UBSG has proposed, and what the UN Security Council has agreed, And it will move on to some detailed analysis of relevant cases. The elections due to be held in 2007 will also be analyses in this light - since they both reflect constitutional requirements and international community standards

Moises Silvia Fernandes

Paper Title            : The Ongoing Crisis on East Timor:  Analysis of Endegenous and Exogenous

  Factors

Abstract                :

With the sudden collapse of East Timor's security forces National Police and the Armed Forces), in April/May 2006, the country has entered into a spiral of considerable violence in its capital city, Dili. This turmoil ultimately led to the replacement of Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri by the Nobel laureate José Ramos Horta. Although many analysts had predicted that East Timor would return to a normal state of affairs in fact the situation has worsened. This paper will attempt to analyse key domestic and external factors which are contributing to the ongoing crisis. We intend to probe the influence of such factors as classic power struggles amongst the top political leadership, youth disenfranchisement, poverty, deteriorating state-church relations, at the domestic level, and the role of Australia, Indonesia, Portugal and the United Nations, at the external level, in order to get a clearer picture of what will be the most likely development to the ongoing East Timorese crisis.