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Xanana Gusmao: East Timor's president accepts 'poet warrior's' resignation
ABC Radio Australia - February 9, 2015
The former guerilla fighter has served as either president or prime minister since East Timor became independent in 2002, after a long struggle against Indonesian occupation.
Mr Ruak planned to meet with political parties this week to discuss the restructuring of the government and is expected to decide on a new prime minister by the end of this week.
Mr Gusmao led the struggle against Indonesian occupation, even from behind bars.
The charismatic 68-year-old, who sports a shaggy beard, was a journalist before he joined the pro-independence movement, the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (Fretilin), in 1975.
Mr Gusmao became a member just days after the country declared independence when Portugal withdrew from the territory following its centuries-long rule.
However, East Timor's first attempt at going it alone was short-lived – just over a week after the Portuguese left, Indonesia invaded.
Gusmao continued to lead struggle from Jakarta jail
Mr Gusmao quickly rose through the ranks of the resistance and when Fretilin leader Nicolau dos Reis Lobato was killed, he was put in charge of reorganising the independence movement.
He became leader of Fretilin's military wing Falintil in 1981, spending much of his life in the jungle with fellow fighters who decades later would become the country's leaders.
It was during these years that Mr Gusmao, born Jose Alexandre Mr Gusmao, took on the code name Xanana, which came from a 1970s pop song that he says he has now forgotten.
He became a hero among Timorese but for Indonesian authorities, he was the most wanted man in the territory. He was finally captured in 1992, but continued to lead the struggle from jail in the Indonesian capital Jakarta.
During his time in prison he met his second wife, Australian aid worker Kirsty Sword, with whom he now has three children. She taught him English by correspondence and sneaked into the prison to meet him face-to-face.
Mr Gusmao earned the romantic moniker "poet warrior" during his time behind bars, when he would paint and work on his poetry.
Independent East Timor's first president
The downfall of Indonesian dictator Suharto ushered in a new era of democracy for Indonesia and saw Mr Gusmao freed in 1999, hours after his compatriots voted for independence in a United Nations-administered referendum.
He helped reunify the nation after pro-Indonesian militias went on a murderous rampage following the vote, persuading militiamen to return home.
Mr Gusmao then won a landslide victory to become the country's first president in 2002. Following his five-year term he gained the prime ministership in 2007 by forming a coalition. He won a second term as prime minister in 2012.
Mr Gusmao has been credited with helping the young country through a series of crises – such as in 2006 when soldiers sacked from the army launched a mutiny which sparked deadly factional violence.
While he remains a popular figure, he has faced criticism for showing authoritarian tendencies, particularly during bouts of instability. The last major security threat was an attempt on Mr Gusmao's life, as well as that of then president Jose Ramos-Horta in 2008.
Recent years have been largely peaceful, leaving Mr Gusmao's government to focus on kick-starting the economy to alleviate widespread poverty in the nation of 1.1 million people.
He vowed to use billions of dollars from oil and gas revenues on development, and creating opportunities for young people. "With this money we have to improve people's lives," he said in an emotional speech at a campaign rally before his 2012 re-election.
He has long expressed his desire to resign, saying it is time for a younger generation of leaders to step up.
Nowadays Mr Gusmao fashions himself as a national father figure and denies he ever wanted to pursue a career in politics. He once famously claimed that he would rather have been a pumpkin farmer than a politician. (ABC/Wires)
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