Lumayan juga baca dari Manila Times. Paling tidak ternyata negara
sahabat
di Asean bersikap bijaksana. Philipina contohnya, kalau Singapura
ya nggak tahu ya.... Eh, ngomongin kedua negara ini jadi kepikiran.
Pengen seperti Philipina yg sistem demokrasi sudah teruji tapi
ekonominya
masih tersengal-sengal, ataukah yang otoriter model Singapura tapi
ekonominya maju? Pasti pilih yg demokratis dan ekonomi maju kan?
Akeh tunggale....
Salam,
Jaya
'------------------------------------------
Editorial: East Timor gambit
DURING the last 24 years under Indonesian control, East
Timorese
not only witnessed but also experienced too much
violence as they
struggled for independence.
More than 200,000 lives had been wasted in the former
Portuguese
colony before Jakarta could finally offer a graceful way
out of one
of its diplomatic nightmares.
Last Friday, the foreign ministers of Indonesia and
Portugal agreed
to hold a historic vote in East Timor, a vote that could
finally lead
to independence for the territory of 800,000 people that
Jakarta
annexed in 1976.
There is, however, no cause for celebration among East
Timorese
in Jakarta's decision to allow a UN-organized balloting
for
autonomy or independence in East Timor.
Indonesia's recent offer of self-determination in the
territory had
set off intense fighting between independence advocates
and
those who prefer to remain aligned with Indonesia.
A Dili-based human rights group claimed up to 90 people
had
already died in attacks by pro-Jakarta militia and the
Indonesian
armed forces in the first three months of 1999.
Even after warring factions signed a peace pact last
week, the
pro-Jakarta militias continue to carry guns, control
some roads and
effectively seal Dili off each at night with roadblocks.
Thus, the agreement between Jakarta and Lisbon in New
York last
Friday was greeted more with relief than excitement by
war-weary
East Timorese.
The volatile situation in East Timor and in other parts
of Indonesia
brings to light the horrors of ethnic cleansing in the
Balkan
peninsula as Yugoslavia broke apart shortly after Josip
Broz Tito's
death.
Tribal and religious tensions threaten not only
Indonesia's stability
but the Southeast Asia region as well.
A Kosovo-like situation in Indonesia could disrupt not
only the
political stability but also the economic recovery
efforts of the
region still weighed down by the 1997 regional financial
crisis.
Now is the time for the three decade-old Association of
Southeast
Asian Nations (Asean) to assert itself in determining
the future of
the region, starting with the situation in East Timor.
Each member-state of Asean has a stake in Indonesia's
future. Each
one is required to make a contribution to make sure
Jakarta does
not fall into the same trap as Yugoslavia.
Initially, each Asean state can contribute by ending the
bloody
confrontations between warring factions in East Timor
and other
parts of Indonesia.
An Asean-organized and manned peacekeeping force could
be a
credible way for Asean to help police Jakarta's troubled
spots. It
has been done before in Cambodia and it could certainly
be done
again.
Asean should not allow outside powers to intervene to
restore
order in the world's largest Muslim republic.
East Timor is an Asean problem that requires an Asean
solution.
http://www.manilatimes.net/editorial/editorial042699a.html
..
