EAST TIMOR’S STRATEGY FOR INDEPENDENCE

East Timor is a country located on the island of Timor in the Malay Archipelago, north of Australia. The first Europeans arrived on the island in the fifteenth century, much of the settlers surprise, it was an island already divided internally into many tribes, between which there was an ongoing relentless war. The Timorese militancy in local languages is defined as 'funu' meaning war, fight or resistance; the Timorese never gave surrender and based there strategy for survival as a state on these factors. At the end of the sixteenth century, the first of the Portuguese people colonized the Timor-Leste territory as a result of fragile arrangements made with local tribal kings called 'Liurai'. However, colonizers could not feel free and safe on the island anywhere else than in the capital, Dili, as they led a fight against the new elite, which at the very beginning showed and fought a place of dominance and leadership. This meant that in some periods of colonization, East Timor in fact ruled itself. Even the Japanese whom occupied the island during World War II did not harness the Timorese, likewise, Indonesia did not subdued the population of Timor-Leste in 1976 during the annexation. The Timorese strategy for independence was to fight and not give in to those attempting to take away their country and freedom.

East Timor at the time of the Portuguese colonization was a country in debt, or subsidized, meaning it was assisted financially. Weak economic growth did not encouraged settlement; therefore mainly convicts slowly populated the island. Timor-Leste's situation was poor, because of this Portugal decided to finally take the appropriate steps and strategies to improve it in any way possible. The strategy was to strengthen the administration. Secondly, introduce taxes (a form of personal tax which each nominally taxpayer pays a certain amount of tax.) and lastly, propose an introduction of a highly repressive system of forced labor. 

Consequently, the Timorese did not approve of these changes therefore, according to the principle ‘divide et impera’ (divide and conquer), civilians began to erupt in bloody rebellions that were stifled by some tribes to rebel against one another. Colonization by Portugal continued to the 70's in the twentieth century, when the other colonies of the State started to become independent. However, East Timor was still not ready for independence. Most factors used as strategies to create a sovereign state were of low quality. The underdeveloped civilization and economy would prove not to be able to independently exist. Agriculture, which is the basis for maintenance was outdated, and the island was using methods that was seen during the post-war era. Industry practically did not exist and the economy included the margin trade. Brick buildings were rare, tropical diseases were spreading and on the rise, and
 the whole society, politically, was going in a backward direction. East Timor was not prepared for 
independence.

In addition to this, the country was divided into Western Protestant and Eastern 
Catholic parts and there was huge linguistic diversity. It is estimated that there were between 17 and 30 different languages, although during the colonial period, East Timor accepted the
 Tetum language, yet it is not used on a daily basis. The lack of written tradition was one-of the obstacles on the road to independence, as well as the lack of elite being able to take power
 or create a political movement. Timorese, after the fall of the Portuguese dictatorship 
Salazar, began to organize political parties in 1974. This would prove a significant ‘turning point’ strategy for East Timor independence.
The first created political formation was the UDT (‘União Democrática Timorense’ - Timorese Democratic Union), a conservative political party, which advocated to continued close relations with Portugal. Another party formed was APODETI (‘Associação Popular Democratica Timorense’ - Timorese Popular Democratic Association), which was behind integration with Indonesia. The last to form was Fretilin (‘Frente Revolucionária de Timor-Leste Independente’ - Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor), a radical, leftist political party that fought against Portugal and Indonesia and dreamed for a self-sufficient East Timor. However, in 1975, the formation of political parties initiated the break out of a civil war between APODETI political parties and Fretilin. Indonesian intelligence contributed with the intrigue that perceived Fretilin as a potential communist, however the treat did not disturb Fretilin and the party still managed to win.

Following a Portuguese colonization, and a brief Japanese occupation, came time for the occupation of Timor-Leste by Indonesia. December 7th, 1975 held the Indonesian invasion, and a year later the annexation of East Timor to Indonesia was approved. The occupation was a tragic period in the history of East Timor, in a mass genocide 116 to 174 thousand people were killed. In the beginning, Fretilin strategy was to lead a guerrilla fight, but leaders were unable to rationally assess the situation and time was mainly devoted to discussions and disagreements instead of fighting. Under the influence of the occupation of East Timor, a new hope was born, the sense of national identity. A very large impact on this development was the experience gained in the 80’s, when the occupiers wishing to gain control of the population, carried out resettlement for the civilians. Timorese people from the mountains were confined to what was called ‘strategic military’. People were separated from their families therefore civilians who were stuck, confined, realized that the old divisions were invalid and united as one. Moreover, the influx of Indonesian migrants caused that the sense of Timorese national identity, which was truly not evident at the time, strengthened. The scale of the resettlement was so large
 it changed the demographic proportions, creating a solid social base for the Indonesians, this caused a rivalry between the immigrants and the natives when referring to resources, which also strengthened a sense of community.

During the 90’s small groups of conspirators began growing, and the 
Timorese began to strongly participate in public life through demonstrations. 
Students organized media campaigns, picketed the embassy’s and the headquarters of the 
international organizations. East Timor drew the attention to the 
international community, forcing Indonesia to change its policy, reduced the number of troops, and
 terror of the population entrusted the paramilitary militia. East Timor received another
 chance for independence during the political changes in Indonesia. President B. J. Habibie found that the maintenance costs of Timor are too high, which is why there has been a tripartite dialogue
the participation of Indonesia, Portugal and the UN Secretary General (Kofi Annan) in May
 1999. When an agreement was reached on holding a referendum, the Timorese had to decide whether they want autonomy within Indonesia, or full independence.
In July 1999, the Security Council established UNAMET (United Nations Mission in East Timor), it was a mission that assisted mandate of a referendum, which also stated that Indonesia aids with security. 
Establishment (the power elite in each country), rulers of East Timor did everything 
to thwart the new administration, paramilitary militias unleashed campaigns of 
terror, however these plans did not stop the referendum going ahead on the 30th August 1999. With a staggering turnout of 98.5%, 
79% Timorese voted in favor of full independence. This result 
wasn’t to the liking of local military and the selection was considered invalid.
Additionally, it destroyed more than 70%
 of buildings and infrastructures, 2 thousand people were killed and 250 thousand fled to West Timor. 
UNAMET evacuated, and the country was left to proceed as a progressive anarchy. This is why; on 20 September 1999 the international peacekeeping force 
INTERFET (International Force of East Timor) entered the country, it was a strategy used in order to restore order and security. Transitional Administration, or 
UNTAET (United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor) provided an interim civil administration and a peacekeeping mission in the territory of East Timor from its establishment on October 25, 1999. Based in Dili, the UNTAET was tasked to rebuild damaged
 infrastructure, to create a functional justice system, financial management, and education, police and health system. But to make these things occur, it needed educated persons that unfortunately were absent due to the countries haunting past. In this case, UNTAET flocked 
foreign workers into the archipelago, amongst them were journalists and various experts and a two-speed economy was formed. A strategy that turned out to be anything but conducive to integration and destructively affected the social order.

In East Timor there was always was a strong sense of tradition, and life was
 organized hierarchically, elites enjoyed the wisdom and respect 
based on the principle of seniority, and the new strategy orientated within existing rules that were contrary to social tradition. UNTAET became accused of
 neo-colonialism, as it had fully sovereign power from 1999 to 2002 in the form of UN diplomat Sergio Viera de Mello. 
However, despite the many inconveniences Timor-Leste still wanted to be fully independent and a democratic state. The modern state has always been the enemy for the island, the occupiers were characterized by high repressiveness, thus Timorese did not know of a different 
lifestyle and did not know what it means to live in a democratic country. In addition to this, Indonesia left a corrupt and untrustworthy administration that had absolute 
power over the population was in the hands of the army - arrest without a warrant, disappearances, torture were a normality.

In practice, there was no rule of law. The past in the case of the Timorese had
 huge influences on the present, people treated justice with reserve, and
 traditional leaders are perceived as maintainers of order. The modern 
political system strategy coexisted with rural customary law. Timorese only obeyed state laws in the most serious cases; divorce or robbery was guided by the common law. The state system itself was perceived as unfair, very difficult to access, very complex and costly. East Timor wanted to introduce democracy, but did not realize that it is
 virtually creating the same state from scratch. In this country there was no tradition of democracy, yet people supported it, even though they really did not understand what it means.

On August 30, 2001 the first free elections were held, the turnout was 91,3%, as many as 16 parties competed and Fretilin won comfortably with most of the votes. A year later presidential elections were held, perhaps this was a strategy imposed to finally become independent. Xanana Gusmao and Dos Xavier Amaral were the two favorites, and 
their rivalry took place in an atmosphere of mutual friendship. Xanana Gusmao won with an overwhelming advantage in number of 
votes. He was the legendary leader of Fretilin rebels, convicted of rebellion and sentenced to lifetime in prison in 1992; he was a symbol of the fight for freedom. Gusmao’s relations with the parliament were divergent; there were conflicting opinions on many issues, for example, the economy or settlement of 
the past.
In 2007, Jose Ramos-Horta became president and the former president became Prime Minister, 
this is one of the problems of East Timor, it lacks people with political experience
, no one new or fresh appears on the political scene, resulting in a lack of new ideas, new strategies to make the sovereign state fulfill as an independent country. 
East Timor is an independent state, but its future is very uncertain. Economic growth is based on fragile foundations, three quarters of employees still work in 
self-supplied primitive farms with virtually non-existent average third class trade and small enterprises, also in 2003 the industry
 employed only approximately 1% of the workforce. East Timor growth was always 
based on public expenditure, i.e. The Portuguese colonial subsidies, Indonesian infrastructure investments or recently international aid. Since the country gained
 independence in May 2002, 2,3 billion USD have been spent on the state, but most of the money was placed in unproductive public services sectors. Preventing the development of new industries is the absence of education of the population. The shortage of 
legal infrastructure, small internal market and violence are factors that disinterest 
potential investors; one export commodity is coffee, but it cannot repair the budget.

The bad state of the economy was also influenced by the decision taken in 2000
 by Parliament on the selection of Portuguese as an official language, if English was chosen, it would help in the development of human capital. Moreover in 2006, escalating social unrest and increasingly frequent outbreaks of violence have not helped in better development that led the country to a state of anarchy. At the end of May 2006, the army launched a rebellion
 against Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, in the capital Dili, street battles erupted between 
gangs of young people that formed tribes, there was even clashes between police and
 army. As a result 130 thousand refugees left their homes and moved into camps. The situation was brought under control after the resignation of the government and the arrival of a contingent of 2700 soldiers of the international peacekeeping force under 
the leadership of Australia. 


In conclusion, this archipelagic state has a long way to go before it becomes a well-functioning state, which is understandable seeing that East Timor have experienced a heavy past and has just been independent over a decade. The strategies implied to become independent have not been beneficial enough to create a well developing, non-violent state. 
The Timorese violence has economic, cultural and historical ground, it is a 
community deeply divided by many problems of the past. The transformations in recent years
 shattered East Timor’s traditional pillars of governance, and yet the residents themselves of this country have always been of clan and tribal structure, and never able to work across party lines, 
to build a common political body, because this was not their tradition. Thus, East Timor stands before a difficult task to avoid becoming the next poor, underdeveloped country with
 no chance for growth, progress and expansion. It is essential for Timor-Leste to strategically make the right decisions to become something more than it is today.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Bonczol, Lukasz. "East Timor. From Relic of Colonialism to Global Problems." University of Wroclaw, 2008. Web. 05 Sept. 2015.

"East Timor Profile - BBC News." BBC News. N.p., 21 May 2013. Web. 16 Sept. 2015. .

Head, Jonathan. "No Happy Ending for East Timor." BBC News. BBC, 03 June 2006. Web. 11 Sept. 2015. .

Taylor, John G. "East Timor’s Bloody Road to Independence." Centre for World Dialogue. Global Dialogue; 2001, Vol. 3 Issue 1, P1, Feb. 2001.

"TIMOR-LESTE - The World Fact Book." Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency, 04 Sept. 2015. Web. 09 Sept. 2015. .