EDITORIAL - Hope for East Timor

It’s a long way from rebellion to the presidency, and election victory is particularly sweet for the first president of East Timor. Xanana Gusmao, who was at the forefront of his people’s bloody struggle for independence from Indonesia, received 82.69 percent of the votes in East Timor’s presidential elections this week, trouncing his lone challenger. The island, with a population of just 740,000, had a voter turnout of 86 percent.

That enthusiasm at the polls augurs well for a people that has suffered through four centuries of Portuguese colonial rule and 24 years of strong-arm governance as a province of Indonesia. For the past 31 months a transitional administration of the United Nations has acted as steward of East Timor. Gusmao, at one time a prisoner of Jakarta, vowed reconciliation with Indonesia and proposed amnesty for the militias who for years sowed terror in East Timor. The successful elections complete East Timor’s long road to independence, paving the way for its declaration as the world’s newest nation in May by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

As other former rebel leaders have found out, however, victory at the polls is just the start of tougher tasks ahead. The presidency in East Timor is largely symbolic, but Gusmao is not expected to confine himself to a ceremonial role. Real power is wielded by the prime minister, Mari Alkatiri of the ruling party Fretilin, which reportedly pushed for Gusmao’s challenger Francisco Xavier do Amaral. Alkatiri has rejected Gusmao’s proposal for a government of national unity.

Amid the political tensions, East Timor must continue rebuilding from the ashes of decades of violence. Poverty is a serious problem that requires a concerted national effort to address. As Filipinos have learned, the road to freedom is tough, but nation-building can be even tougher. After hurdling its first presidential elections, East Timor must prepare for greater challenges ahead.