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http://liaharoman.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_liaharoman_archive.html
Lia Haroman: GEM: A People's State Against A Capitalist's
State
23 May 2006
This is a discussion compiled by the Grupu Estudu Maubere on Fretilin and the policies of the current
Government of Timor-Leste. This document was put together on the eve of
Fretilin's national congress. It is open for discussion and any
comments or ideas are welcomed. Note that Grupu Estudu Maubere is not
an organisation of, affiliated or associated with Fretilin.
Grupu Estudu Maubere:
A People's State Against A Capitalist's State
Farol, 16 May 2006
When the occupiers left Timor-Leste after having been defeated in the
1999 referendum, the people of Timor-Leste entered a transitional phase
to set up the independent state of Timor-Leste through the auspices of
the UN. The transition period in Timor-Leste marked the first ever in
history of UN's direct involvement in the governance of country.
In carrying out its mandate as government, the UN handed the World Bank
the job of managing Timor-Leste's reconstruction and development effort
by administering the funds donated by UN member states. In October 1999
the World Bank established the Joint Assessment Mission to formulate a
basic plan for Timor-Leste's reconstruction. The results of the
assessment became the guide to the reconstruction of Timor-Leste. In
carrying out the reconstruction program and establishing Timor-Leste's
institutions, the leaders of the organisations which fought for
independence under the CNRT were distanced and their only role became
consultative.
Even after sovereignty was handed over in May 2002, the UN and the
World Bank ccntinued to hold on to this role. The involvement of the UN
member states continued to grow through their advisors positioned
within important government institutions as wll as through various
programs that they presided directly such as agricultural
rehabilitation, education and others. These programs were run by
experts from their respective countries based on existing schemes and
not based on adequate scientific studies of East Timorese conditions
and capacity. The developed countries which dominate the UN and the
World Bank are of the opinion that for underdeveloped countries like
Timor-Leste, the economy must be handed totally to the private sector
for them to develop. The role of the state is limited to assisting the
private sector's development. If a state is active in the economic
sector, it would be accused of meddling and endangering these
countries' economic development.
The government of the independent state of RDTL through the leadership
of Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri has strived to turn Timor-Leste into a
country truly independent by making its decisions based on the people's
interest.
Opposing Privatisation
The government is not quick to accept programs introduced by
international institutions, for example on the development of
electrical energy. The World Bank, through the Asian Development Bank
(ADB) wanted to channel funds but only under the condition that within
15 years, the electrical energy production ought to be privatised. The
government rejected this initiative after taking into account the
experiences from other poor countries where after having privatised
their electricity energy production, electricity became accessible only
to the rich. Electrical energy became a commodity which can be marketed
to profit electrical companies without considering that the little
people also also have a right to electricity for light. Thanks to the
refusal to accept World Bank's proposals, today we still face problems
relating to electricity services. However the government is close to
success because in 2007, electrical energy development will start in
order to respond the community's needs.
In the area of transport the Government wants to establish a public
transport company so that the remote sucos can communicate with the
city to meet their needs, such as marketing their agricultural
products. But the World Bank is against this idea. Right now the
government wants to set up a state company which will employ the small
fishermen as the majority (share holders). Once again the World Bank is
against this idea. The government hasn't been able to establish this
venture because there isn't enough fund for it. When the revenue from
the Timor Sea is adequate, there will be a better chance of
establishing these state ventures which has the mission of supporting
progress in people's life.
State Petroleum Company and Petroleum Fund
At the moment the government is undertaking plans to set up a state
owned oil company. The aim of setting up this company is to make sure
that all income from the oil and gas resources is spent towards the
people. As part of this the government is studying other state owned
oil companies such as that of Malaysia and other countries. The plan to
set up this state owned company has been rejected by Timor-Leste
businessmen (some of whom are members of Fretilin). These businessmen
are cooperating with foreign businesses to compete in gaining access to
the oil and gas revenues. In their opinion, the rights to manage these
resources should be given to private companies arguing that these
companies can manage the resources more efficiently and will benefit
the government in terms of taxes and royalties. According to them a
state owned company will not be as advantageous because government
officials will embezzle the revenues through corruption. This is the
same line of argument put forward by the World Bank in defence of
privatisation.
It is true that in many countrie state owned companies never benefited
the people because of massive corruption perpetrated by government
officials. But this has occurred because these countries are rulled by
auoritarian regimes. Government activities, including that of the state
owned company, are never kept in check by the people. A way of
preventing corruption inside the state owned company is through a
direct people's control, through their representatives elected through
democratic elections such as members of parliament. The Prime Minister
understands this issue. That is why the revenues from oil and gas from
Timor Sea are kept in the Petroleum Fund which can only be withdrawn by
the National Parliament.
The Petroleum Fund is a financial management system drawn by
Timor-Leste to manage its oil and gas resources in the Timor Sea. At
the moment the revenue is being invested in the United States in form
of US government bonds. The account is held in the name of Banking and
Payment Authority (BPA) and is kept at the Federal Reserve of the
United States. For the funds to be withdrawn, it must get the approval
from the National Parliament together with a declaration from
independent auditors on the revenues from the oil resources. This
process is further controlled by a consultative councill called the
Petroleum Consultative Councill to be made up by representatives of the
National Parliament, non government organisations, religious
institutions and the private sector. In the future this institution
will also include former presidents of the republic, former speakers of
the parliament, former prime ministers, former ministers of finances
and former directors of BPA. The method of keeping the revenues at the
Federal Reserve and their withdrawal ensures transparency and prevents
corruption similar to other oil rich countries.
With respect to the use of revenues from the Petroleum Fund, Mari
Alkatiri's political line is very clear and it concerns investments in
the public sectors which benefit the people, such as free education,
free health services, establishing state owned companies and
undertaking new partnership programs with non government organisations.
The revenues generated from oil and gas are the main income for
Timor-Leste as well as being the main capital for Timor-Leste's
independence. These revenues, which will continue to grow, will empower
the government to carry out programs that will benefit the Maubere
People. Timor-Leste is following the path taken by Venezuela with
regards to the use of oil revenues to empower the people. In Venezuela,
the government led by president Hugo Chavez uses the revenues to
eradicate illiteracy, provide health services to the people, develop
agricultural and industrial cooperatives, as wll as assisting people of
other countries in the health sector.
The revenues generated by the oil fields can also become a focal point
of internal conflict. Some groups want the revenues used to develop the
private sector. Perhaps this issue can become the basis for major
contests inside the Fretilin Congress.
Against borrowing
Although there is not enough money to fund development, the Government
of Mari Alkatiri has decided against borrowing from the World Bank. In
fact the World Bank is inclined to make Timor-Leste a country with
debt. This is due to the lessons Prime Minister Alkatiri learnt from
other underdeveloped nations where the debts from the World Bank only
benefited a small elite. In time, it will be left to the majority of
those people to pay off the debts. Furthermore, countries which borrow
money will loose their political independence as their political
economy will be dictated by the World Bank. Prime Minister Mari
Alkatiri and President Xanana Gusmão have rejected this option
for Timor-Leste, an option which would only serve the current short
term benefit of the elite at the expense of the future generations.
Health and Education
The Government of Mari Alkatiri recognises that development requires a
healthy and educated population. Because of this the government gives
priority to educationa and health. This is in line with the
International Convention for Social, Economic and Cultural Rights which
RDTL has signed, to which the United States, dubbed as the pioneer of
human rights, has yet to ratify until today. We must be proud that as a
new nation and poor, in just four years we are able to provide health
and education services free of charge. Without these free services in
health and education, only those with the means will be healthy and
will be able to provide education for their children. Those without the
means will continue to live with diseases and ignorance.
In providing free health services with a good quality, the government
has cooperated with the Cuban government, whose country has high health
standards and is welknown throughout the world. The Worl Bank also
recognises the quality of health and education of Cuba which is
comparable to industrialised countries like the Scandinavians, although
Cuba is itself underdeveloped. Cuba has sent many volunteer doctors to
assist in the provision of health in many remote sucos. They earn a
monthly allowance of US$200. This earning is only a fraction compared
to the "salaries" of doctors from other countries who are contracted to
work in Timor-Leste for salaries of more than US$3000.
The Government of Timor-Leste sends hundreds of students to Cuba to
study medicine. According to government plans, by 2015 Timor-Leste
should be able to provide a doctor for every thousand members of the
community. This doctor to population ratio will be higher than that of
the United States (1 to 1400). The cooperation with Cuba is
advantageous to Timor-Leste because the students' scholarships are
funded by the Cuban government. The Timor-Leste government only
provided funds to buy their return tickets to Cuba. This program
indicates that the Department of Health has adequate plans for the
health system and knows how to prepare the human resources for it.
The Government is also undertaking programs to improve mother and
infant nutritions. Timor-Leste is known as a nation with high mother
and infant mortality rate. This program is aimed at reducing the number
of mother and infant mortality rate. It has just started in the
districts of Liqui ça and Suai in cooperation of WFP and Oxfam
Australia. It has been achieving some good results because since it
improved the nutrition intake for the participating mother and infant.
Unfortunately in the area of education plans are not yet available for
schools, from primary education to university. It is notable however,
that non formal vocational education programs provided by the
governments of Portugal and Brazil only prepares the participants to
market their skills to companies. It does not prepare them to become
independent and become a valuable member of the society.
There are a lot of criticism directed towards the area of education and
health. This is to be expected as not everything that is good for the
peope is tolerated by the elite class. Those who reject free education
argue that this method will bring down the quality of schools and
students will be less responsible for their education. This line of
thinking is inaccurate. In Germany, education services from primary to
tertiary are provided for free by the state. But Germany is also know
for its high quality education system which attracts many students from
countries all over the world to study from technology to philosophy and
the arts.
Agriculture
In developing the agricultural sector, the government is trying to
improve infrastructures such as irrigation and roads. However there are
no discussions at the moment on how to organise communities to improve
their production. Perhaps this has to do with the small government
budget resulting from Worl Bank policies. An example of this is
pasture. The government is not offering to provide free training for
the people. According to plans, the World Bank will set up and
organisation to train participants to become future trainers. The
graduates will deliver these services to the people but at a fee. This
clearly shows the World Bank's preference towards privatisation.
Essentially the government should provide the services in this area so
that it can be accessible to everyone. Otherwise only those with the
resources will be able to access it. These measures also occur in other
aspects of agriculture.
State: the instrument for the people's liberation vs the
instrument to beef up the capitalists
These programs demonstrate that Mari Alkatiri's Government is fighting
to make the state of independent Timor-Leste an instrument which serves
the people and not the elite class. In the meantime the elite class is
making a lot of profit through businesses in cooperation with foreign
entrepreneurs, which want the state to become an instrument to serve
the interests of the industrialists. They want the government to make
an economic policy which can deliver opportunities to them. These
objectives compelled them to become involved in political parties in
order to define the policies of the state in line with their interests.
The businesses which are involved in these way are parasites. They turn
the state into an instrument to exploit a country's resources as well
as the people. Much like what has been happening at the moment, the
exploitation of these resources is not used to develop activities that
will benefit the people. It is used instead to serve for their own
pleasures. They will not develop the economy of Timor-Leste because
they don't have any long term economic plan. They only want to profit
in the short term to support their lifestyle of excess and luxury.
They want Timor-Leste to give more priority to the private sector in
its economic policies through the "neoliberal" multilateral financial
institutions such as the World Bank and other developed nations
currently running programs in Timor-Leste. They are of the opinion that
a nation's progress can only be achieved when the running of the
economy is handed totally to the private sector with the state's only
role being that of supporting the private sector. If Timor-Leste
economy is completely dominated by the private sector, the people of
Timor-Leste will descend into a life of poverty and suffering in every
aspect. But these won't be the only consequence, a new minority group
will also emerge that will become richer and richer by day while the
majority of the Timor-Leste people live in extreme poverty forever.
Mari Alkatiri's policies still remain true to the real objectives of
Fretilin in setting the state as the instrument to free the pople from
oppression, exploitation, ignorance and disease. These objectives are
similar to the ones set out in the first Constitution drafted in 1975:
"to dismantle the colonial structures in order to establish a new
society free from domination and exploitation" (article 2, RDTL
Constitution of 1975).
Right now there is a major clash between opposing ideals about an
independent Timor-Leste: a state which serves the people versus a state
which serves the interests of the business groups. This competition
occurs in different sections, including within the government as well
as inside Fretilin party itself. Our role in these debates is to make
sure that the ideals of national liberation prevail by fighting for a
State which belongs to the people, a people that dreamed of liberation
of the Maubere People.
Farol, 16 May 2006.
Translated unofficially by Alex
Tilman from tetum original. All errors are of translator's
responsibility.
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