EAST TIMOR: EAST TIMOR LEADER XANANA GUSMAO RESIGNS AS HEAD OF THE TERRITORY'S DE FACTO PARLIAMENT
Record ID:
647829
EAST TIMOR: EAST TIMOR LEADER XANANA GUSMAO RESIGNS AS HEAD OF THE TERRITORY'S DE FACTO PARLIAMENT
- Title: EAST TIMOR: EAST TIMOR LEADER XANANA GUSMAO RESIGNS AS HEAD OF THE TERRITORY'S DE FACTO PARLIAMENT
- Date: 29th March 2001
- Summary: (U3) DILI, EAST TIMOR (MARCH 29, 2001) (REUTERS) 1. SV XANANA GUSMAO AND SERGIO VIEIRA DE MELLO SPEAKING TO EACH OTHER 0.07 2. SV JOSE RAMOS-HORTA SPEAKING TO A U.N. OFFICIAL 0.20 3. SLV OF CONFERENCE 0.22 (W5) DILI, EAST TIMOR (MARCH 29, 2001) (REUTERS) 4. MCU (English) XNANA GUSMAO, EAST TIMOR GUERILLA LEADER "It was because I don't accept what the political commission is doing to be considered political manouvreing, considered as political games. We tried everything to serve the process. When I say to serve the process I mean to serve the people." 1.09 5. MCU (English) JOSE RAMOS HORTA, GUSMAO SUPPORTER: "I am actually relieved and pleased because I had advised him from the very beginning not to be part of it. He has other important tasks, much more important, much more needed. e should be liberated, freed from any engagements in Dili with political institutions in order to travel in the districts, in the villages." 1.29 (U3) DILI, EAST TIMOR (MARCH 29, 2001) (REUTERS) 6. SV/SLV VARIOUS OF CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS (2 SHOTS) 1.45 (W5) DILI, EAST TIMOR (MARCH 29, 2001) (REUTERS) 7. MCU (English) JOSE RAMOS HORTA, GUSMAO SUPPORTER (ASKED WHY THERE WAS RELUCTANCE TO CONSULT PEOPLE ABOUT THE PROCESS) "Well I don't know. Probably they don't think that the people deserve to be consulted. MAybe those that voted against, they think that our people are too ignorant, illiterate have no rights and should not be consulted. But the national council is not an elected body." 2.06 8. PAN STREET SELLER SITTING ON PAVEMENT 2.17 9. CU NEWSPAPER HEADLINES, ZOOM OUT TO REVEAL STREET SCENE 2.31 10. SLV UNITED NATIONS VEHICLE PARKED IN STREET 2.34 11. SLV PEOPLE STANDING TALKING ON FOOTPATH 2.39 12. MCU (English) UNDIDENTIFIED EAST TIMORESE MAN "Xanana, I think the leader Xanana very important for this country." 2.48 13. MCU (English) UNDIDENTIFIED EAST TIMORESE MAN "It's no good. I blieve he should be there for much longer. We trust him, we love him. He fought for us and we want him to keep on fighting, for the struggle is not finished yet, is not over yet." 3.04 14. LV OF UNITED NATIONS VEHICLES ON THE STREETS (2 SHOTS) 3.23 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 13th April 2001 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: DILI, EAST TIMOR
- Country: Indonesia
- Reuters ID: LVA4HDINJFZXFCM2XN959NZWAFXP
- Story Text: East Timor leader Xanana Gusmao has resigned as head of
the territory's de facto parliament, blaming internal
squabbling for hampering moves towards independence.
Xanana Gusmao's decision to resign followed warnings
that East Timor was in danger of plunging back into political
chaos.
His resignation was spelt out in a letter to United
Nation's representative in East Timor, Sergio Vieira de Mello,
who has administered the former Portuguese colony since it
voted for independence from Indonesia in 1999.
Gusmao and de Mello were among delegates attending an
international donors' conference in the East Timorese capital
Dili on Thursday (March 29).
Gusmao, who many expected to become East Timor's first
president, reportedly said his decision to resign followed a
heated debate on Tuesday (March 27) in the territory's
National Council.
A copy of his letter was obtained by a Portuguese news
agency.
Gusmao, who spent seven years in an Indonesian jail in
Jakarta shortly before the vote for independence, is the
dominant political figure in East Timor. He has no apparent
heir.
Indonesian troops and pro-Jakarta militia embarked on a
killing spree after the August 1999 vote for independence.
Indonesia annexed East Timor in 1976 in a move never
recognised by the United Nations, claiming it was seeking to
restore order after civil war erupted following Portugal's
hasty withdrawal a year earlier.
Under plans for transition to full statehood, an
estimated 400,000 eligible voters are due to elect a
Constituent Assembly in the elections on August 30.
The Assembly will then have 90 days to prepare and
approve a constitution ahead of full independence set for late
2001.
Gusmao reportedly said in his resignation letter that
bitter infighting was delaying decisions on details of the
constitution and sowing confusion among the population.
"As I refuse to be part of a politically irresponsible
process, I hereby tender my resignation," he was reported by
the Portuguese news agency LUSA as saying.
But U.N. officials said on Thursday (March 29) Xanana
Gusmao was to remain a key figure in the impoverished
territory's painful transition to independence, despite
resigning as head of the de facto parliament.
As East Timor's key political figure and independence
hero, Gusmao has previously used resignation threats to get
his way.
A U.N. official in the East Timor capital Dili who
declined to be identified, said Gusmao had retained his post
as head of the National Council for Timorese Resistance
(CNRT), the main pro-independence group.
Vieira de Mello told a meeting of international donors in
Dili on Thursday he understood Gusmao's position, and said the
resignation would free up the charismatic leader to focus on
his grassroots work as head of CNRT.
Asked outside the meeting why he'd resigned, Gusmao said
he could not accept the way the East Timorese people were
being left out of the process of setting up a new constitution
for the fledgeling country.
"It was because I don't accept what the political
commission is doing to be considered political manourvring,
considered as political games. We tried everything to serve
the process. When I say to serve the process I mean to serve
the people," Gusmao said.
A long time supporter of Gusmao, Jose Ramos Horta, said
he welcomed the resignation, because it meant Gusmao could get
on with more important work.
Asked why he thought local people were left out of the
political process, Ramos Horta said: "Probably they don't
think that the people deserve to be consulted. Maybe those
that voted against, they think that our people are too
ignorant, illiterate have no rights and should not be
consulted. But the national council is not an elected body."
In November, Gusmao proposed resigning to focus on his
CNRT work, but Vieira de Mello convinced him to stay on until
the National Council finalised a critical electoral law, which
it did in mid March.
East Timor aims to achieve formal independence at the end
of 2001, two years after pro-Jakarta militias backed by the
Indonesian military laid waste to the territory when it voted
to break from Indonesia's harsh 23-year rule.
Gusmao said internal squabbling in the National Council
was delaying decisions on details of the constitution and
sowing confusion among the population.
He added he was taking the step after the National Council
on Tuesday refused to pass a regulation creating a commission
that would allow for grassroots consultation before drafting a
constitution for the fledgling territory.
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