Report on the VLGA Observer Mission to the Timor Leste Parliamentary elections
June 2007
Cr Janet Rice
VLGA Vice-President
Timor leste. An amazing country – my experience was of people who were so friendly and welcoming, determined to make a go of things.
And the election was an absolute delight to observe –I visited five polling booths in the district of Liquica, about 40 km west of the capital of Dili, and I saw thousands of people lining up peacefully, waiting to vote, voting calmly, determinedly, and the election being carried out exceptionally well. The following day we returned to Liquica to see some of the votes being counted. The count also was undertaken very transparently and scrupulously carefully.
Overwhelmingly the election was observed to be free and fair by international, national and party observers. Us being there was part of giving the election validity – so the population could have confidence that it was carried out properly so they are able to accept and trust the result.
But I was constantly struggling with how do I join together my experience of Timor as a peaceful, quiet state with the violence and horrors of the past? To know that every one of the people I meet has been touched by suffering, by loss, and has had to deal with things I can't imagine. I thought about for example our driver John who was 25. If he was an Australian he would hardly be out of Uni. He was 17 at the time of the 1999 referendum, just older than my eldest son is now. This was a time of gruesome tortures and deaths, a time of fear and chaos, when thousands and thousands and thousands of people fled for their lives from the militias, a time of illness and deprivation, of life in refugee camps. And that episode as gruesome as it was when the world watched horrified was not all – it is estimated that a third of the population died during the period of the Indonesian occupation between 1975 -1999.
Then last year when fighting broke out again, the hard won peace was shattered, and the thin veneer of civilized society broke down again. There is still a very strong presence of peacekeeping forces and UNPOL, the international police force undertaking policing side by side with local police. There are still five camps for displaced people in Dili who don't feel able to live safely in their homes in the regional areas. A peaceful election with acceptance of the outcome is critical in allowing the transition to real peace time, when the foreign police and peacekeepers will withdraw, and the local police and armed forces will be trusted by people to operate effectively, fairly and neutrally.
VLGA CEO Rae Perry, President Jose Ramos-Horta and Janet.
As VLGA Vice President I also had the incredible privilege of hosting a dinner for President Jose Ramos Horta, the Australian Ambassador Margaret Twomey and 40 VLGA observers. We met with the President the last day we were in Dili and he suggested he would like to have dinner with us that night… which we promptly organised! I sat next to the President most of the evening, gave a speech and introduced him… all in all a very rich experience!
I also met Xanana Gusmao, who has been President for the last 5 years and is now the new Prime Minister; two of the Ministers in the outgoing Fretilin government, and representatives of a range of aid organisations working in East Timor .
I was an observer in the District of Liquica which is the region that the City of Moonee Valley has a Friendship arrangement with. Moonee Valley is keen for Maribyrnong to join them in partnership in that arrangement. The day before the election Bruce Henry who is a member of the community group Friends of Liquica and I spent half a day with the District Administrator of Liquica, Lionel Cavallaro. Lionel took us on a tour to a remote village in the mountains above Liquica to show us a village where they are keen to bring some land back into agricultural production for the benefit of the whole village, but need financial support to do so. This is one possible project that the Friendship partnership could consider funding.
Election day at Liquica.
The other overwhelming thing of note about Timor Leste is just how poor they are, and how little infrastructure they have. So many buildings in Dili and throughout the city were destroyed in the fighting and remain burnt out and abandoned. The state of roads throughout the country is atrocious and really limits people's ability to travel and transport goods to market. We saw some children for example from a mountain village who every day had to walk five kilometres or almost two hours each way to and from high school along a steep mountain four wheel drive track.
There is no industry to speak of in the whole country. Schooling is limited, teachers are under-trained. Water supplies to villages are underdeveloped. There is no postal service, very few libraries, and internet connections and email are pretty much only available in Dili and the second largest city Baucau. We visited the state secondary school in Liquica – it has 1100 pupils, 23 classrooms and operates two shifts a day. There is no electricity in the classrooms, one computer in the whole school, and the only way we will be able to sty in touch with the Vice Principal who we met will be via his mobile phone. I would love to see a friendship school arrangement between this school and one of our local high schools.
Campaining Timor Leste style.
For me it was a real insight into life in the developing world, in a country just emerging from the horrors of war. I think its been a really powerful experience for me as a Councillor in Maribyrnong- an insight into the lives of so many of our residents, not just those from East Timor but recent refugees from Sudan, and Burma where fighting is ongoing, and those who have escaped from conflicts around the world recently and longer ago such as Vietnam, Cambodia, the Horn of Africa, and central America.
As an Australian it was an experience of what life is like for our nearest neighbours- just an hour and a half's plane flight from Darwin . We are so privileged in comparison, yet our government is still fighting with Timor Leste over gas and oil reserves in the Timor Sea . The value of these reserves is what East Timor 's future is going to depend on.
Sunset from the beach at Dili.
Australia is giving a lot of support, both government and non government programs, and there are lots of Australians working in East Timor both in paid and voluntary capacities - and every dollar and hour of time is so valued. I think the local government Friendship arrangements which are community to community programs are great examples of this support – and programs which we in Australia learn from and get rewards from as well.