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Free East Timor? - Page 5© Jason Gottlieb
Page 5
Feb 26, 1999
Megawati is also playing politics. Her father incorporated the archipelago by force, and his legacy of authoritarian rule enabled Suharto to hold on to Timor. Just as Habibie is trying to defuse student protest against the army, Megawati (who is not close to the armed forces herself) is trying to steal votes from the nationalists by siding with the army. And as for the charismatic Gusmao, he says he doesn't even want to be president of an independent Timor, much less any higher office - not that he would stand a chance an election where 90% of the electorate is Muslim. So, in the end, Indonesia's future remains as uncertain as Timor's. Although the Timorese have heard empty promises for twenty years, it seems that Habibie might be more serious about those promises than his predecessor. The focus, though, is less on what is good for East Timor, or even Indonesia, than what is good for the aspiring candidates in the upcoming election. The countdown to June 7 is on, and East Timor, long used to the part of the pawn, is being used again by all sides. Timor might take at least some optimistic solace in the recent developments. Things might actually get better this time, and they couldn't get much worse.
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It helps a little to put the Timor situation in the context of Portugal's swift and tramatic exit from the colonial era.Timor is only one of several colonies the Portugese raped and then withdrew ...
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I have one in the family. My daughter, after a divorce, studied law while raising two children. She obtained her degree and is now U. S. attorney in Billings, MT. She succeeded in convicting the "f ...
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I have no idea. It often feels like I don't! (Like now, at a quarter past midnight, printing out my assignment for tomorrow...and then off to more reading...) ...
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You certainly have a great deal of information in your head. How do you find time to study law and still edit this column? ...
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Gerald, The western part of Timor is unconditionally Indonesia's. It was part of the original territory demarcated in Sukarno's 1945 (unilateral) declaration that Indonesia was a nation. (Quick st ...
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