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'National unity' may be dangerous in government

La'o Hamutuk Statement - July 12, 2012

La'o Hamutuk feels that a multi-party state is essential to genuine democracy, to give space for a variety of perspectives to be discussed and considered with public participation. Parliament is the logical place for that to happen, and we are disappointed that there will be fewer parties in the next Parliament than in the past one. We hope that there will continue to be a strong, active Parliamentary opposition, to critique and to propose alternatives to Government initiatives. This is necessary for transparency and public participation in setting the country's direction – regardless of who the Prime Minister and governing parties are.

We share the determination of the authors of Timor-Leste's Constitution, who "Solemnly reaffirm their determination to fight all forms of tyranny, oppression, social, cultural or religious domination and segregation, to defend national independence, to respect and guarantee human rights and the fundamental rights of the citizen, to ensure the principle of the separation of powers in the organization of the State, and to establish the essential rules of multi-party democracy, with a view to building a just and prosperous nation and developing a society of solidarity and fraternity."

In a Government of National Unity, policy debates will take place in the Council of Ministers, behind closed doors. Citizens may be unable to follow or participate in important decisions. We hope that the new Council of Ministers will be more observable and accessible than the last one, but there are no guarantees.

With a President close to the Prime Minister, Timor-Leste will have fewer checks and balances than it has had during the last five years, when we had an independent President and a lively, pluralistic, Parliamentary opposition. Such checks called corruptors to account and prevented misguided initiatives like the Timor-Leste Investment Company and the proposed Land Laws, as well as improving policies and projects.

But in recent years, as the state budget has escalated rapidly, fewer people are setting directions, and they are making mistakes. We hope that when the election period is over, Timor-Leste's leaders will focus their energies on managing the country's resources, services, directions and priorities. We look forward to more serious policy discussions than we saw during the election campaign.

The issues are critical – Timor-Leste's Fifth Constitutional Government may be the last one with significant oil wealth to spend. If we do not use the income from exporting these resources to build our non-oil economy, reduce import dependency, strengthen agriculture and build strong human resources to replace the oil, we will face disaster soon after 2017. A Government without institutionalized political opposition – whether it is called "national unity" or "one-party-state" – often makes poor decisions and ignores people's wishes, endangering the future of Timor-Leste's next generation.

Regardless of which parties are in Government, La'o Hamutuk and other civil society organizations will continue to try to represent the needs and desires of less powerful and more vulnerable people. We hope we will have allies in Parliament to work with.

La'o Hamutuk
Bebora, Dili, Timor-Leste
Telephone: +670-3321040 or +670-723-4330
email: info@laohamutuk.org
http://www.laohamutuk.org blog: http://laohamutuk.blogspot.com/

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