I will make a small intervention and I ask your permission to speak a little longer, because yesterday I also read a beautiful document from UNMIT.
I am happy to read Timor ‘wikileaks’, or ‘UNleaks’, which was released yesterday by Tempo Semanal. On 24 January this year, UNMIT made a presentation to their staff about ‘Democratic governance in Timor-Leste’. In it, it said that Xanana Gusmão is a big obstacle to the development of democracy in Timor-Leste.
I was very happy because they showed that they do not know Xanana Gusmão. And now, I say to all of you, and also take this opportunity to inform them, just as in 2009 I informed Australian Intelligence when they asked me why I purchased the patrol boats from China.
Xanana Gusmão was before a Marxism-Leninist, a member of the Fretilin Central Committee which claimed Marxism-Leninism as Fretilin ideology on 20 May 1977, in Laline. Those who participated in this decision that are still living are Abel Larisima, Ma Huno and Filomeno Paixão.
Xanana Gusmão, who could have become President of Fretilin and President of RDTL, on 3 March 1981, at the Conference of the Re-organisation of the Struggle, when the path was wide open for him. But he did not want to, because his preoccupation was to learn to direct the struggle to win independence. And with his influence, Mr Abílio de Araújo, who at the moment is in Lisbon, was chosen.
In March 1985, Xanana Gusmão presented a plan for a solution to the struggle, a plan that only in 1999 was the UN able to apply.
In 1986, Xanana Gusmão took one year to study a better strategy for the struggle, withdrew from Fretilin so as to embrace other parties as well as to open the way for more parties. Friends of the Fretilin delegation outside the country wrote a letter to him, in the mountains, to say that they did not agree with this strategy, some even called him a traitor...to the revolution...until even today.
UNMIT and UN Agencies have forgotten that in 2001, after already approving the transition Plan for the Restoration, on the 20th of May, Xanana Gusmão no longer involved himself in the UNTAET process, nor did he involve himself in the political process for the Constituent Assembly Elections, he was sitting quietly, overseeing the veterans and receiving $500 dollars from the World Bank for the demobilisation of FALANTIL.
UNMIT considers Xanana Gusmão, the experts both Timorese and international who work in UNMIT, say: Xanana is the biggest obstacle to Constitutionalism.
In February 2008, Xanana Gusmão did not read correctly the Constitution of RDTL to stop the non-activities of UNMIT and the non-operations of the ISF, when he decided to create a joint operation so that our sovereignty would not be alienated; a decision I can guarantee that had it not been made we would still be in a crisis.
But for UNMIT, this would have been good....because they could get to stay here longer! And I must say, that some Timorese defend UNMIT and do not want it to leave, because it greatly assists the economy of our people and argue that if UNMIT leaves, our people will be very poor. But this has already happened when from 2000 to 2008, the international community spent almost 8 billion dollars in Timor-Leste and we do not see any physical development and even more poverty was created in our country. And because they are leaving, poverty increases, and this is our fault!
UNMIT also stated that my response to the “2009 State General Budget” case was very hostile, meaning that I showed a lack of respect to the Courts. I agreed that UNMIT had a lot of knowledge, with its nationals and internationals, which is why they did not correctly study my response to the National Parliament.
UNMIT’s knowledge can not understand that I as the Prime Minister of Timor-Leste, do not accept theories from politicians or academics in Portugal, that the Courts referred to and relied upon in their judgment, because I have followed the financial and economic situation in Portugal. (As before, I do not fight in the dark). In my response, I mentioned that if the theories which the Court referred to in their judgment were correct, Portugal would not be falling down. Today Portugal, with 120 billion dollars in debt, is looking for assistance from the European Banks and the IMF. If this is a response that UNMIT classifies as hostile, this means that the “experts” in UNMIT are very clever indeed.
And UNMIT also mentioned the Maternus Bere case. Some Timorese also shouted, because people from other countries told them to shout. Saddam Hussein has been killed! Everyone was happy because justice has prevailed! In ten years, Iraq has had numerous elections according to international standards. In Iraq... the war still continues, and President Obama himself promised in his campaign to end the war, today, I say there is no capacity to make a decision regarding this issue. In January 2006, I went to Washington, I spoke at the Centre of Strategic Studies and I said: “President Bush, until the end of his mandate, did not manage to establish a date to reduce or withdraw the American troops from Iraq.” And I asked the Americans “Do not kill Saddam Hussein, use Saddam Hussein to make reconciliation in Iraq, or else, the Iraqis will continue to kill one another”. And, today, May 2011, they continue to kill each other and this war will not end quickly. Even though Osama Bin Laden has now also died.
These experts have not followed the events in Libya where people are also looking for a compromised solution to Muammar Gaddafi, to convince him to go to another Middle Eastern country, some with promises that he will not have to answer to anything. This is not possible, however, when we reflect on this, the big problem that will arise, is that any of the Middle Eastern nations which may receive all have problems of their own. Attempts such as this, have also arisen in relation to Hosni Mubarak, from Egypt.
That is why everything is relative. One thing is activism! Another thing is politics, where one has to defend the interest of the nation. And the interest of the nation is something that is very broad, from diplomacy to the aspects of practical relations, from economy to commerce, from security to sovereignty.
I also have my appreciation of UN agencies. My proposal is this: UNMIT and Timorese experts, offer your services to improve Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and give support to democracy in Yemen, Syria and Libya.
However, in the UNMIT presentation, in January 2011, they said that, only if the UN continues to be in Timor-Leste can this country improve.
I want to say to these Timorese, which have become experts for UNMIT, you do not need to show-off; you do not need to grovel for other people’s money, because this is a sickness, which we call mental colonialism or intellectual colonialism.
In the Portuguese language it is alienation. In our Constitution it says: do not alienate our sovereignty, do not sell our sovereignty to other people.
I am happy that UNMIT has this view of me. Perhaps they are the ones who elected me as a good person....to UNMIT, the people have a right to suspect that I have already alienated the interests of the people, I have already alienated our nation’s sovereignty. Therefore, I am happy.....because the nationals and internationals in UNMIT are not happy with me.
We know some people have become big “experts” in our country, however, maybe they should now work together with President Obama to look to resolve the 14.5 trillion dollar American debt, and the big fraud which the financial institutions and banks displayed in 2009 that damaged the whole world.
Some have become “expert” in macroeconomics and finance in our country. They have yet to learn that they are well groomed to serve Europe to get it out of its big problems, such as 788 billion in debts from Ireland, Greece, and Portugal and a “bailout” in which the European Bank and IMF can only offer 322 billion.
These experts today hold RDTL ID cards, but they do not yet know that greater countries in the world need them. America and Europe need these Timorese experts and internationals, to correct the standards which they so dearly defend.
And the world needs reform that is indeed big. Big organisations in the world need reforms which are bold and clear, in order to clean the dirt from within, so that they can gain experience to clean other people’s backyards. The UN itself needs this big reform.
In 2004, I and the current President Dr Ramos-Horta, at the time Minister of Foreign Affairs, went to visit Germany. German’s President asked for Timor-Leste to support reforms in the UN and their candidacy to the Security Council. I said to the German President: “Reforms in the UN can not just be by providing new members to the Security Council. There needs to be a true reform because the UN is a big organisation and very bureaucratic, which spends a lot of money...and we all see that poverty continues to increase throughout the world”.
There needs to be a reform throughout these agencies, where they only communicate with each other, where they defend the standards which they profess but seldom practice. Big and rich countries can not continue to impose their rules on the world. Small and poor countries can not also remain silent when receiving these empty words in their ears.
In February, I participated in the Jakarta International Dialogue on Defence. In my intervention I challenged the participants, civilians, politicians and military staff, from Europe to Asia, from UN representatives, to those from Africa and the Middle East, and said: “Why do we not look for a way to end the many wars which cost billions of dollars each year, so that the international community can make a good plan, to provide water to the places which are in drought, mostly in Africa, and therefore, money used for war can save thousands and millions of people and this provides real sustainability”.
The topic of transparency regarding assistance from overseas was also raised. I also raised this challenge there, because, why not? International agencies spend a lot of money, and in some places, take rice to distribute, write their own big reports that they have saved people from hunger in order to ask for more money to continue to distribute the rice.
Couple this with “sustainability”, which today comes across as a new word to some of the experts in our beloved country. Some Agencies or NGOs have found money, have come to do something, when there is no more money they come running to the government asking for assistance or else they will close. However, everyday, they preach to us regarding sustainability. And the Timorese which have already become experts, also mention everyday to us “sustainability”. Why is that? If they do not shout, people no longer give them money, and they also do not find sustainability.
My dear friends,
Because of this, Timor-Leste today leads the g7+ where 17 countries come together, representing a total population of more than 350 million people to talk, or to say the right word, to correct the systems that are currently used throughout the world.
All these things that we the Timorese need to look to understand, look to accompany, look to listen, or else everyday we think that Timor-Leste is the worst in the world. If we did not know, we would think that the Timorese and international experts are right. To make us think that: in the world everyone has a job, everyone has liberty, everyone lives in peace, everyone has a full belly, their police do not hit their people, that they do not have crime, that there are no prisons, or that the hospitals are closed because there is no sickness, the rich people feed the poor three times a day, that governments do not have problems like in Timor-Leste.
We understand that we still have a lot of problems, we will improve. We all look to continue to make an effort. At an Indonesian University, I also delivered a speech last March and I said: “In developed countries there is a bad culture, the society does not value the efforts which their government is making to respond to the various necessities. People like to minimise these efforts which only strengthens other countries well being’.
However, it is not only because of this that the State is surprised. The State can not give value to the undeserved opinions of one or two individuals. The State needs to remain firm, follow the road that it knows to be correct and good for the people.
The correct way is this: during the war, we had one principle – “’Rely on your own strength’, meaning ‘Rely on your own capacity’”. We kept in our mind, another principle – “national unity through reconciliation”, meaning, we only build unity when we make peace and live in peace.
We know what we want and the State of Timor-Leste knows what its people want.
Díli, 17 May 2011.
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