NOTES WEEK 5

East Timor Referendum a Diplomacy Indonesia

The East Timor referendum is the climax of the East Timor polemic which has lasted for 22
years. The long-term problems of the former 27th province have repeatedly cornered Indonesia
in international forums. This condition was exacerbated by the conflict that occurred within the
territory of East Timor itself. Although the Indonesian government has made various efforts to
resolve the East Timor polemic, no common ground has been found to defend the territory. In
fact, the pressure on Indonesia in international forums is getting stronger. Therefore a
referendum ultimately became the only way to resolve the East Timor problem.

Preparations for an East Timor Referendum

Seven months after BJ Habibie came to power, or to be precise, December 19, 1998, Australian
Prime Minister John Howard sent a letter to President Habibie. He proposed to review the
implementation of the referendum for the people of East Timor. Responding to the Australian
PM's request, the Indonesian government held a cabinet meeting at Bina Graha on January 27,
1999. Foreign Minister Ali Alatas announced the results of the meeting which took more than
five hours, that Indonesia would be free from East Timor if they rejected the conflict resolution
option. Timor-Timor is an expanded special autonomy offer (Almanuha, 2017: 20). In East
Timor, violence between the pro-independence group and the pro-integration group (PPI)
continues to occur. On April 6, 1999, there was a violence at the Liquica Church which caused
hundreds of people to flee. This was followed by riots on April 17 in Dili which among others
killed the son of pro-independence activist Manuel Viegas Carrascalao and the destruction of the
office of the East Timor Suara Daily. On 21 April 1999 the pro-integration and pro-
independence groups signed a peace agreement at the residence of the Bishop of Dili, Mgr
Carlos Filipe Ximenes. This peace agreement was witnessed by the Minister of Defense/Army
Commander of the Armed Forces General Wiranto, Komnas HAM Deputy Chairperson Djoko
Soegianto, and the Bishop of Baucau Mgr Basilio do Nascimento

President Habibie discussed in more depth the fate of East Timor with the Prime Minister of
Australia, John Howard on 27 April 1999. Habibie said he would carry out a poll to find out the
true will of the people of East Timor, to continue to integrate or separate from Indonesia. The
original plan for a referendum was to be held on August 8, 1999. As an implementation of
Habibie's statement, Minister of Foreign Affairs (Menlu), Ali Alatas and Portuguese Foreign
Minister Jaime Gama, together with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan signed an agreement to
hold a referendum on August 8, 1999 in Timor Timor. On the other hand, Indonesia remains
responsible for the security of the referendum. The UN General Assembly unanimously accepted
the agreement on 7 May 1999.

President Habibie then formed a team to secure the implementation of a vote on the status of
East Timor on 11 May. The President appointed the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal
and Security Affairs Feisal Tanjung as the person in charge, with members from the Minister of
Defense and Security General Wiranto, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas, Minister of State
Secretary Muladi, Minister of Home Affairs Syarwan Hamid, and Head of the State Intelligence
Coordinating Agency ZA Maulani. Furthermore, on May 17, 1999, President Habibie issued
Presidential Decree (Keppres) No. 43/1999 concerning the RI-Portugal Agreement Security
Team in East Timor. The Presidential Decree was confirmed by Presidential Instruction (Inpres)
No. 5/1999 concerning Steps to Consolidate the RI-Portugal Agreement. Through Minister of
State Secretary Muladi, the Indonesian government asked the United Nations to advance the
voting, from August 8 to August 7, 1999. The reason was because August 8, 1999 was a Sunday
and many Catholics worshiped . Since 1 June 1999, the blue flag of the United Nations began
flying over East Timor. The United Nations inaugurated its mission in East Timor (UNAMET)
on 3 June 1999. The mission was chaired by Ian Martin. Unfortunately the inauguration of the
mission was marred by riots by pro-integration parties in Dili. To make conditions in East Timor
conducive during the preparation for the referendum, representatives of the pro-integration and
pro-independence groups held a meeting in Jakarta on 16-18 June 1999. During this meeting,
they agreed to hand over the weapons belonging to the armed groups of both parties to
UNAMET or the Indonesian government. After the agreement on the surrender of weapons was
reached, on 23 June 1999 the Indonesian government sent 4,4452 members of the National
Police to secure the implementation of the popular consultation in East Timor. On 26 June 1999,
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan responded to a request to change the implementation schedule
previously submitted by Indonesia and decided to postpone the holding of the popular
consultation in East Timor, two weeks from the date specified, so that the plan was changed to
21 August.

To make the referendum a success from July 16 to August 8, voter registration was started. In
general, the first day of registration took place safely, except in Zumalai District, Kovalima, a
riot occurred which resulted in one death and five injuries. In the midst of the referendum
registration period, the UN again changed the decision to hold the referendum which was
changed to August 30, 1999. The campaign period for the referendum opened on August 14,
1999. It is planned that this campaign period will last until August 26. On the same day the pro-
autonomy and pro-independence groups agreed to hold a peaceful campaign until the final round.
But unfortunately the agreement only became a discourse, because in reality the riots still
occurred. On August 25, coinciding with the last round of the pro-independence campaign, riots
broke out and resulted in two deaths. Riots also occurred in the last round of the pro-integration
campaign which was marked by mass riots which culminated in Bekora and Kuluhan. At least
four people were killed and two journalists were shot