Normal Service has Resumed

Apologies, I meant to update this earlier (Tuesday).

I fully intended to but I had what was undoubtedly the worst day of my time here.

I had stomach issues (I'll spare you the details) in the morning and was feeling rubbish all through the day. I ended up going home with a fever as well. I was really concerned I had contracted Dengue Fever; I felt sore all over, I had a high temperature, and a bad headache. I stayed at home for the next two days and I seem to be over the worst of it. May have just been a virus kinda thing.

Ensuring that Tuesday was the worst day of my time here was the theft of my motorbike. I left it at RnR Cafe, where I was meeting someone for lunch. Sometime between 12 and 2 someone nicked off with it. I reported it to the police (waste of time) and retreated back to the office. Likely scenario is that it was taken by a local gang. They extort local businesses for protection money. A well informed person suspects that RnR hasn't been paying its dues, this has happened before at this place. The local racket takes its customers' vehicles as a way of encouraging businesses to pay the protection money. (Customers won't come back if their stuff gets nicked, the business loses business etc etc...)

I won't get it back. It's probably on its way to West Timor, or already there. Going to buy a 2nd hand bike for the last three bikes. And I will be far more careful about my parking. Oh yeah, insurance doesn't cover it so I"m out a nice chunk of change.

I'm looking forward to my break. Heading to Bali for a week on the 9th of May. Need to get out and stop (somehow). I think I'll post on the weekend, want to catch up on election results and other issues. Might just put up some photos this evening.

Hope you had a better week than me!

Announcement: I have a photo album page

Oh, and yes, I am still alive.

Feeling a bit fieldwork fatigued but only a week until I am in Bali.

Gonna update the blog tomorrow evening; watch out.

This Sporting Life and Electoral Violence

Watching two AFL games live at the same time. Woof.

I’ve decided to spend the night at the Dili Beach Hotel. Bear with me. The first semi-final of the FA Cup is on tonight, Liverpool vs. Everton, and I really want to watch it. I haven’t watched much football and this could be a ripper. Probably will be a scrappy derby match, with the added spice of a place in the final up for grabs. Everton are the form team, can’t stop scoring goals. Liverpool, really struggling and have to start with their third choice goalkeeper. What a calamity; their first two choices out through red cards. I’m not feeling that confident based on current form but anything can happen in a cup game. Come on you Reds. It’s also fitting that it’s the day before the anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy. YNWA; justice for the 96.

Anyway, the point being… ummm, oh yeah, the game won’t start till 9.30pm and things are getting kinda tense around the place with the elections on Monday. To follow up on my last post, I’ve heard that the TMR campaign HQ was attacked by some 100 FRETILIN supporters. This news came to me this morning from a journalist friend. The PNTL are investigating the situation as I write this. There have also been a series of incidents that have seemingly targeted foreigners. People have been stopped, asked for money or other documents. Vehicles have been stoned. Roadblocks setup by goodness knows who have been erected. I honestly don’t feel that confident about traveling when it starts to get dark. And this is the lead up to the polls. I expect things to possibly get tenser and more challenging after the results are announced. 

It is in this context that I decided that the most sensible choice was to watch the match at the DBH, would probably finish just before midnight – assuming it doesn’t go to extra time or penalties - and just crash there at the hotel. Expensive for a football game but these kind of games don’t happen on a regular basis.

Oh yeah, I’m watching two live games of AFL concurrently as I write this. Brilliant. I find I write very productively with the AFL in the background. What a game last night, blues over the pies, and of course my cats got over the hawks by a whisker on Monday. Go Cats. 

Lunch time. Catch you later.

Three Days in the East Part Three

I’d like to finish this story off quickly. So much more has happened since I returned from the East. Wow; time really has flown by.

A final note on what happened on the first day, Monday, 2 April. I felt like my head was going to explode. Dehydrated and too much sun – and super exhausted. We were promised somewhere to crash at the local Church. Sounded great. In fact, if it wasn’t for the mozzies, I would have slept on the ground outside, it was so cool outside and I was ready to collapse. Of course, best laid plans of mice and men.

Arrived at the Church and of course no one knew what was going on. Communication was zero. No one knew if there were rooms, no one knew anything. Couldn’t believe it. Just wanted to sleep, and my headache was crushing my spirit. The Church itself, as an aside, is an amazing building. Really impressive, great design and well put together – too bad I didn’t get to stay there. Looked good enough…

Instead, Mana A. and I are shipped off to stay at the house of a family who is somehow connected to the campaign. WHATEVER. I couldn’t have cared less, just give me a cold shower and something to sleep on. The place was lovely by the way, very grateful to the family who knew nothing about us to take us in. I don’t mean to sounds ungrateful, but I was really sick, and also tired of being at the whim of the campaign gods. I wish things had been a little better organised; communication in particular. The breakdown of communication would lead to the first major hiccup of the trip and the first of three miracles on Tuesday, 3 April.

Some discussion had taken place Monday night concerning the plans for the next day. TMR was head to the district of Lautem, the most Eastern of Timor-Leste’s districts. The first stop would be Los Palos, then Iliomar. The estimated time of departure varied according to the person we spoke too. We heard 5am, 6am and 7am. The last person we spoke to said 4am. Now, given my experience of how things run on time here (see Timor Time or rubber time), I felt we wouldn’t be moving till at least 6am. Still I set the alarm, just in case, for around 4am. I figured, worst case, they would wake us up when they were going to leave. They wouldn’t just leave us there, surely.

Of course, they left us there.

I had woken up a bit after four and nothing was doing. I talked with Mana A. later on and she had woken up a couple of times during the morning and nothing was happening. 

I woke up at 7.30am, not sure what was going on, and got packed. In a nutshell, they had left at 7am. They didn’t leave any numbers or any other way to contact them. We didn’t know the family we were staying with. We knew, effectively, no one. What a joke.

Miracle #1

With no other recourse, we went to the PNTL, the local police station. This was the first miracle. The officer in charge there was extremely helpful. After he and his mates had a quiet chuckle about our predicament, which I don’t blame them for, he informed us that he was going to Baucau a little later and could give us a lift. Ace! We bundled on board his very comfortable well equipped 4WD with some other people and made our way to Baucau. What a difference it makes to travel facing forward, with a seatbelt, in a 4WD. Was a dream compared to my trip to Quelicai. 

Miracle #2

Mana A. and I arrived in Baucau around lunch. The plan was to find some transport to Manatuto, then make our way South from there to Laclubar, where TMR was scheduled to campaign on the following day. Lunch before we travelled seemed sensible, and safe enough. Who knew?

Again, in a nutshell, during the course of lunch, Mana A. decline an offer for a glass of water from the restaurant’s water jug for some from her bottle. I didn’t immediately notice there was a problem. Half an hour later I was informed by Mana A. that she had inadvertently drunk something other than water. A fluid similar in appearance to water had been contained in that bottle, something less than pleasant.  It turned out to be kerosene.

In an attempt to induce here to vomit, I suggested salt water and fingers down the throat. What a sight it would have been for local onlookers and passersby. There was me, mixing salt I had bought from one of the street side stores with a bottle of water, then Mana A. consuming it and trying to throw up. Mana A. wanted to see a doctor or get to the hospital. A couple local guys on their bikes told us it was 2 kilos away. How were we going to get there?

We paid them to take us there. I guess it wasn’t that big of a miracle, paying them to take us there was a simple transaction, but it felt like a miracle at the time.

Miracle #3

After being redirected several times around the hospital to find the consultation office, we finally found it and Mana A. found an English speaking Portuguese doctor. X-rays were the order of the day. While I was waiting, miracle number 3 occurred. An Australian nurse, whom I had met previously in Dili, walked by. Of course, Julie! She was based in Baucau. How relieved I was to see her. 

Sight for sore eyes I tell; told her all about it and she called a toxicology specialist in Dili. It would have taken a lot of kerosene to have done serious damage, though something came up on the x-ray, some fluid in the lungs. Antibiotics were prescribed. 

Now, first time in Baucau, nowhere to stay and no idea of how to get anywhere from the hospital. Julie saves the day again. I am told I can crash at here place for the night and she drops me off there to rest up before returning back to work. Had a great dinner out with her and her housemate, Nicole. Had a couple of beers, thought I was due at least two.

The plan now? Travel to Laclubar in the morning and hope to catch TMR there. 

Wednesday, 4 April

Not a lot to say here. We got a lift with a family to Manatuto, where we envisaged getting transport to Laclubar. This car ride was something else. Placing one of my bags in the bag, I noticed that two pigs had been tied up and placed in the back – in the tray. Some kind of sacrifice or exchange was taking place in Dili; the pigs were part of the deal. In addition, there were two kids holding on in the back, I mean, in the tray with the pigs. Two more kids shared the middle seat in the back, while one more sat on mum’s lap. Good times.

Of course, to top if all off, we found out there had been a change to the schedule – again. Laclubar had been cancelled. Waves of frustration came over me, initially, then relief. I had been defeated and I threw in the towel from the last three days. At least I got one good day of research material. Things could have been worse and I came back with some great anecdotes. We went straight back to Dili from Baucau. I was happy to get back; especially when I saw that my bike hadn’t been stolen. I don’t think I’ll add anymore.

PS. Just heard that TMR’s campaign HQ had been attacked today. I’m not pointing fingers but could it be more than just coincidence that FRETILIN has been campaigning very hard for the last two days in Dili? Anything is possible. This is not good.

Three Days in the East Part Two

Event #2

Okay. Back to where I was last night. I digressed a bit but I will talk about the rest of my trip I promise.

I was incredibly exhausted and dehydrated. They fed us well at the first location, in fact, they fed everyone really well. Put on a huge feed for everyone who turned up. So much meat, never seen so much, couldn’t do that on a regular basis. Despite this, I was struggling and it was pretty warm too. I thought we were finished for the day but no, surprise, there was another event. I could feel a headache coming on and the event was outside, with limited shade. These events tend to go on and on. Trouble. Only so much water could do for me, and my ibuprofen was in my bag; locked in the car. I would have to persevere. 

We stopped near a building that had a stage setup on in front of it, with a large space for people to congregate in front of it. A TMR poster adorned part of the stage. Other noticeable images/symbols were a FRETILN flag and national Timor-Leste flag. A crowd had already assembled in front of the stage, as well as around the outside of the quadrant:

I didn’t catch it on camera, but several lines of veterans in military dress had arranged themselves in a form of honour guard style formation. I caught term marching in though:

The presence of veterans was extremely obvious, particularly with them carrying around weapons, such as machetes.

I was able to compare the general gist of the speech, and much it seemed to resemble what he had previously said during the first event. I felt, however, that there was an increased emphasis on veterans. Veterans are one of his big priorities, at least according to the speech he delivered at the second event. Being the former leader of FALINTIL accords him a special status among veterans – at least some of them anyway. Veterans are divided and some are aligned with FRETILIN. Again, this theme of loyalty to individuals versus loyalty to organisations or fronts is very interesting. TMR was their commander for some of the time and this carries a lot of weight when it is translated politically.

TMR knew his audience and seemed to have his speech geared so they heard things they liked. The precise details went passed me but TMR spoke a lot about veterans rights, including the pension. He spoke about discrimination against veterans, too. He was working very hard to court their vote and it seemed to resonate with those who attended.

Also in attendance were some interesting looking local special police in charge of security (the guys to the left, dark uniforms). Goodness knows what they could actually do if things went South:

Here's a couple nice shots of the surrounding environment. You might notice the sawah or wet rice cultivation. There isn't a lot of that in Timor-Leste, the climate and soil, from what I understand, doesn't suit that style of rice cultivation in a lot of areas. Very different from my experience in Indonesia, Java in particular:

Final note on Event # 2

Some celebrities were present: Antonio Aitahan Matak, from CPD-RDTL, an organisation that doesn't recognise the constitution of the current state, the one introduced in 2002. It only recognises the constitution promulgated in 1975, with the declaration of independence on 28 November, 1975. This is a whole other issue, but it is interesting Antonio and his organisation are participating in the presidential race. The other is L7 or L-Sete, from the political party, UNDERTIM. These two characters are serious players, and have strong relationships with veterans. The older man in the military fatigues is an old school veteran, famous I think, but I didn’t catch many details. TMR mentioned, or joked, about this guy in relation to Angola.

By the end of this event, I was totally out of it. I was so sick, what a brutal headache. Only sleep could cure it. We were supposed to be put up in a room in a church in Quelicai. Of course, things never go according to plan. (It's an amazing church BTW, absolutely stunning building). Again, no one knew what was going on, and of course we just had to keep waiting. All well and good, but I was dying with this headache, just wanted to sleep. So finally, finally, the give up on the church, and Mana A. and myself are driven to crash at a local family, somehow they know someone in the TMR campaign.

So, cool, the plan was to go with the campaign convey to Los Palos early the next day. Right, we can do that. Just get us up and we will get on board and rock on. Again, no one knew what was going on, what time I asked, hmmm, got three different answers. 4am, 5am, 6am. What? Come on. The last time we heard was 4am, sure whatever, I knew what that mean, 6am, with a 7am departure. Cool, I'll sleep and set the alarm. If they want to leave earlier, they will wake us up, right?

TMR+XG = TMR+CNRT-Independence

Right, I’m back. At One More Bar; an Aussie style sports bar. Got some footy on and a Melbourne Bitter, with potato skins on the way. I’m going to the gym tomorrow so I’ll make up for it.

To follow on briefly from what I wrote at the end of my last blog, before I get onto Event #2, I am going to expand on my discussion of TMR’s case for his presidential bid. The point I want to address is his claim that all presidents elected in TL have been independent (all two of them, being XG and JRH), which he claims strengthens his case because he too is an independent candidate. In contrast, there is no mistaking Lu Olo as FRETILN’s candidate. TMR claims that the people of TL always pick independent candidates, and because of this, he should be elected. This particular aspect of his argument was raised in a recent entry in the diak ka lae blog, and I am grateful to those responsible for posting it. You can find a link to the diakkalae.com blog at the right hand side of my blog.

There are certainly some strengths associated with a candidate for president not being formally tied to a political party. Lu Olo is definitely FRETILIN’s man, and his relationship with that organisation for some voters is probably problematic at the very least. How much Lu Olo would be able to be himself, as opposed to a creature of the party machine, under the influence of its leadership i.e. Mari Alkatiri in particular, is a valid point of discussion. The idea of a person from FRETILN being the head of state for all Timorese is divisive for many, I’m thinking particularly of those who became disillusioned with FRETILIN or being actively involved in forming the anti-FRETILN bloc during its term in government 2002-2007. 

An independent candidate would seem naturally a safer and more palatable prospect in this context. JRH did well enough in the first round in 2007 to pass through to the run off, where he benefited from the formation of an anti-FRETILN movement, which encompassed the support of almost all of the other candidates from the first round – bar Manuel Tilman from KOTA. CNRT, as part of this movement, saw its chance to flex its muscle and eliminate Lu Olo in 2007 by backing JRH, though JRH seemed to be able to remain his own man during his term as president, and not be beholden to the pressures exerted by the parties that supported him. The tension between JRH and XG over the last five years, over a variety of issues, demonstrate that JRH was determined to keep his independence to a large extent demonstrated in criticism of the CNRT led AMP government. This less than harmonious relationship between the PM and President has partly contributed to CNRT not backing JRH in his Presidential bid in 2012. 

A side note. JRH appeared to have decided late in the game to run again. He would not get backing from CNRT as he did in 2007. He was assured that CNRT would not back another candidate, however. This proved a short lived promise, as CNRT got behind TMR shortly before campaigning in the first round began. I believe that the personal relationship between JRH and XG, at least at a political level, had deteriorated substantially. They did not see eye to eye on everything and by most accounts JRH was not shy in criticising XG and his government. XG backing TMR might have been a way of punishing JRH politically, perhaps XG wanted to ensure JRH would not make it through to the second round. TMR was the obvious choice to back if XG wanted to challenge FRETILIN and also undermine JRH. Lasama, the leader of Partido Democratico, was a strong candidate but would be harder to manage and influence from the perspective of XG, given that Lasama was in charge of his own party etc. This appears to be a fairly cynical piece of political maneuvering by XG, his personal relationship with TMR is not supposed to be a happy one. Most of it would come from all the chaos of 2006, when TMR was head of the defence forces and XG was President. What really happened will probably never be revealed, but mistakes were made by almost all of the leadership caste at the time and apparently those two guys still have a beef with each other. TMR and XG/CNRT is a marriage of political convenience.

The essential thrust of my point is that while TMR presents himself as an independent candidate, it is terribly difficult for him to hold to that argument given how reliant he has become on XG and CNRT to get behind his campaign. Additionally, while independent candidates have become president in the last two elections, this does not mean a candidate from a particular party cannot or should not be voted in. I would argue that neither candidate, TMR or Lu Olo, is independent, despite TMR claiming otherwise. While he is not formally or advertised as CNRT’s candidate, looking at all the posters and stickers around the place, it is impossible to believe otherwise. He is CNRT’s candidate in everything but name. XG is behind him, he turns up at rallies and is in all the posters. There is one with an older photograph of the two of them in military fatigues, along with a recent photo of them in civilians clothing. This is a similar one in sticker form:

As I’ve argued before, XG is CNRT, XG with TMR = TMR as CNRT’s candidate in the perception and minds of people when they see those campaign posters. It is a quiet and subtle endorsement of TMR by CNRT via the agency of XG. I don’t have a problem with CNRT getting behind TMR; the problem is with the argument that he is an independent candidate, I think it’s disingenuous. How much he is in control of his candidature and campaign, and how much XG and CNRT are behind it is hard to tell. The influence that XG would like to exert on TMR should he win office will be a question that can only be answer in time, should TMR win. Should he win, and should the formation of government get messy like it did last time, well, I can only suggest you watch this space. The President is empowered to invite the parties to try and form government, in theory the party with the most seats has the first opportunity to do so. FRETILIN feel hard done by with what happened in 2007, despite winning most seats, they claim they were not given a chance to form a coalition government. Again, what went down at this time is disputed, but if no party has a majority and needs to form a coalition government to rule, the role of the president will be critical. It could spell trouble. Both CNRT and FRETILN would want to have influence over the President in this situation, this would test the integrity and independence of the President in relation to the parties and individuals behind them.

Three Days in the East Part One

The campaigning for the second round of the presidential ballot began on Friday, 30 March. I planned to begin my coverage of this campaigning on Monday, 2 April. With only two candidates on the road, I decided to divide my time between them in as many different locations as possible. At that stage, as I had already intimated previously, I was feeling the itch to get out of Dili. Examining both TMR and Lu Olo’s campaigns in different districts would provide greater depth and breadth to my research. How much would the language and style of their respective campaigns change in relation to the area they were in?

The location of the campaign would be important. The local history, identity, concerns etc would alter to some degree I felt what would come up. The candidates would want to speak more specifically to these localised matters. What issues would they address, how would they interact with them, how would they draw on them to their political benefit, how would they link it to their broader campaign etc. These were the kind of things I was considering.

On the Monday, TMR was scheduled to travel to Quelicai, in the district of Baucau. Tuesday was Los Palos and Iliomar in the district of Lautem, and Wednesday was Laclubar, district of Manatuto. All of these districts are in the East. The idea was to follow TMR to all of these locations. I would be traveling with a colleague of mine, Mana A. We were told that we could get a lift with one of the campaign cars early on Monday morning.

Monday, 2 April

We were told that we would need to be at the HQ in Taibessi around 5.30, to make sure we could leave by 6. I was very sceptical of this, I am getting used to Timor Time (see jam karet or rubber time) but I didn’t want to risk missing out on this trip. Nerves and packing before I went to bed ensured I got little sleep. Maybe four hours. 

Nobody seemed to know what was going on, or at least they all had a different idea of what was going on, which is essentially the same thing, when we arrived at Taibessi. I should say, there was nobody there till at least 6.15. Several phone calls later, and a clear out of the vehicle with all the sound equipment, myself and several others – a real rag tag group: two researchers, a security detail guy and a couple of supporter, hopped aboard and we were off.

This vehicle was a troopie. Benches in the back across the side, not facing the front. Not only this, but there was nothing to hold us down. This is bad enough when you are doing a normal trip on the roads here. It’s certainly a different kettle of fish when the driver breaks the land speed record from Dili to Baucau. He did it in 2.5 hours. It should take at least 3. He  gunned it the whole way, honking all the way there. I was nauseas the whole trip, but only threw up once. Felt terrible the entire time, all the way to Quelicai (4.5 hours in total). Not my idea of how to spend a Monday morning I can tell you.

It’s a miracle we didn’t end up like these poor guys:

This is another car that was on its way to Quelicai in support of the TMR campaign. I didn’t get the details of what happened but I can reassure everyone that nobody was hurt. Didn’t get to stop in Baucau, which looked like a beautiful town. (It is, got to spend some time there on Tuesday). 

Event #1

We raced through and arrived just in time for the start of the first event in Quelicai around 12pm. Quite a crowd turned up:

TMR got on top of the vehicle I had travelled in and gave his speech:

Quelicai is a beautiful little town. It has a lot of history, some of it very tragic and powerful. It is close to Mt. Matebian, which was the final base of resistance around 1978-79 when the Indonesians were driving FRETILIN and the local populace further East. The military history of the place and the role of veterans are very prominent here and as such a very sensitive issue. TMR touched on some of these themes in his speech. One thing that stood out to me was in his comparisons of himself to Lu Olo. 

The major two differences he enunciated were that: (1) while they were both military officers in FALINTIL, he (TMR) was Lu Olo’s superior. TMR was the older brother, Lu Olo the younger brother, in this relationship. This implies a specific form of hierarchy that renders TMR the natural and right choice between the two. This discounts other claims to legitimacy that Lu Olo can make, based on other experience and achievement. Meritocracy gives way to hierarchy. This worries me a bit, that TMR would draw on this older relationship, formed in the military during the resistance, and transpose it here in a democratic election. The application of this standard for people to judge and direct support for a popularly elected head of state is something that does speak to some here, particularly veterans, those who fought in FALINTIL or perhaps even now for those in the F-FDTL. This mindset in a military organisation is natural and makes sense, carrying it over to a civilian context troubles me. 

This paradigm perhaps indicates a way of thinking that TMR thinks is still okay in a democratic regime, if I understand his position properly. He has only just left his post as chief of the defence force (F-FDTL) and I am concerned he hasn’t spent enough time out of it. What experience does he have of civilian life and politics? His achievements during the 24 years of Indonesian occupation are incredible and I have huge respect for him. I wonder, however, if this experience, and his lack of experience outside of the military, mean that he is not ready. Trying to undermine your opponent, delegitimise their campaign while vindicating yours by saying you were his superior, the older brother, who is due this appointment, is not a healthy argument. Meritocracy should be encouraged. TMR’s achievements in the military are worthy of respect and praise but they do not grant one automatic promotion to public office because you were your opponents superior. Lu Olo’s achievements during the resistance and afterwards, once he entered civilian life, need to be respected on their own terms and not undermined a priori. 

This argument, however, was a major point for TMR and it seemed to have some resonance with the crowd. Some veterans were there and they feel a strong bond with TMR. They hold him in high esteem and the argument about hierarchical entitlement would probably appear natural and reasonable to them. I would like to understand better, about why these kind of arguments are used, why do they have such a strong impact and are received readily.

The second point raised was about FRETILN. TMR argued that FRETILIN as it is now composed is different from the FRETILIN that brought about independence, which fought and sacrificed for 24 years. FRETILN the party vs FRETLIN the resistance front. FRETLIN the front should be respected. The party should be treated differently. FRETILIN, as it is currently constituted, would argue to the contrary.

I’m gonna call it quits for tonight. I’m gonna continue onto Event #2 and what happened on Tuesday and Wednesday, tomorrow. Good night!