Suchergebnisse

Timor-Leste entered 2018 with a political crisis that kept a minority government without the confidence of parliament. President Lú-Olo tried to resolve the situation by calling early elections, but the incumbency effect did not materialize, and the opposition won the polls. Timor-Leste celebrated an important treaty with Australia on their maritime borders in the Timor Sea.

The year 2017 dawned in Timor-Leste with positive promises. Diplomatic efforts to secure a new maritime boundary and improve access to natural resources ended in a favorable deal. Elections let people have a voice on disputes of the previous year. But the returns took many by surprise, and instability returned to the arena.

In this Discussion Paper, I consider first the academic debate on the establishment of democracy and the role of political competition and cooperation as a background to the current Timorese government formula. This is followed by a brief historical tour of the idea of institutional inclusion in the Timorese recent past (including actual opposition to it) in order to frame the following discussion of some problems that the inauguration of a new form of government may pose in the process of democratic consolidation. I shall then address the rationale for change that may explain the decision to revert to the new formula, whose merits and limitations will also be discussed. Finally, one and a half years after the inauguration of the new government, Timor- Leste has been shaken by political events that call into question whether the scope of 'inclusion' of its basis is actually so broad as to embody 'national unity', as important players (such as President Taur Matan Ruak) appear to be challenging critical decisions of Rui Maria de Araújo and his government. The end of History is not in sight.

Xanana Gusmão recently mentioned that a "Second Maubere Miracle" is underway, implying that a major political reform will soon shake the roots of Timor-Leste's public administration. Decentralization, defined in a very broad sense, has been a constitutional mandate since independence, but successive governments have failed to engage this reform despite paying lip service to its necessity. This essay reviews the options before the policy makers - both in theoretical terms (distinguishing between the various definitions of decentralization) and in the pragmatic forms that have been contemplated so far - and discusses their implications for the process of rooting a modern democracy in the country both at the intermediate, district level and at the grassroots, suku (village) level. For this purpose, the essay brings together the author's own field research and the rich literature that has emerged in the recent past, including contributions by Timorese colleagues. (JCSA/GIGA)

Xanana Gusmão recently mentioned that a "Second Maubere Miracle" is underway, implying that a major political reform will soon shake the roots of Timor-Leste's public administration. Decentralization, defined in a very broad sense, has been a constitutional mandate since independence, but successive governments have failed to engage this reform despite paying lip service to its necessity. This essay reviews the options before the policy makers – both in theoretical terms (distinguishing between the various definitions of decentralization) and in the pragmatic forms that have been contemplated so far – and discusses their implications for the process of rooting a modern democracy in the country both at the intermediate, district level and at the grassroots, suku (village) level. For this purpose, the essay brings together the author's own field research and the rich literature that has emerged in the recent past, including contributions by Timorese colleagues.

In early 2013, Timor-Leste started to walk solely on its own feet, after the departure of the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste and the International Stabilization Force. The year has proved to be broadly peaceful, signifying that the country has learned to live within its own resources. The level of political consensus has increased, as Timor-Leste engages in a process of generational turnover.

In early 2013, Timor-Leste started to walk solely on its own feet, after the departure of the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste and the International Stabilization Force. The year has proved to be broadly peaceful, signifying that the country has learned to live within its own resources. The level of political consensus has increased, as Timor-Leste engages in a process of generational turnover.

The majority of authors writing on Timor-Leste, and international organisations who publish indices of democratic performance concur that Timor-Leste has achieved the status of a democratic polity, although the apparent stability of the regime cannot be equated with full democratic consolidation. Among the myriad challenges that this nation faces, democratic consolidation ranks high. In this In Brief, the author considers three particular dimensions to the challenge of democratic consolidation in Timor-Leste.

This paper proposes to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the independence of Timor-Leste by focusing on two controversies that marked the period before its proclamation and whose consequences extend into the present. The first one deals with the "road map to Independence" and comprises the debate on the best process to elaborate a Constitution. It is intertwined with the problem of the extent to which Timorese ought to participate in the critical decisions of the transitional period, conducted under the aegis of the United Nations. The second impinges on the choice of its system of government and its impact on the consolidation of democracy. This section discusses the relevant literature on semi- presidentialism to frame a comparative perspective to events in Timor-Leste and shows the historical evolution of the process of constitutional design and the debates it involved. Finally, this essay proposes to look at those critical choices as a function of the history of Timor-Leste since 1975 and the political balance of forces rather than derived from theoretical principles.