English translation of the previous post regarding the Portugal / Timor-Leste Cooperation (Justice Sector).

David Vs Golia
Xanana Vs Conoco Philips & Co.

I hesitated on expressing my opinion on this matter because I was not in possession of reliable information although very disturbing rumours had reached me with very serious and accusing allegations of the Justice in Timor-Leste.

The Justice in Timor-Leste suffers from many weaknesses; but so does the major part of our public administration. Obviously, each sector has its own weight and Justice weights even more because it has serious ramifications when it does not work with professional competence and unquestionable integrity.

The main question/issue for the Timorese Government and all the Timorese, from all social and political backgrounds, lies in the Court of Díli: The clash between David(Timor-Leste) and Golias (the notorious “Seven Sisters”, so are known the seven most powerful oil companies in the world).

The government exhibited documented evidence, that to this day has not been contested, of major faults of those who judged the case – State of Timor-Leste VS Conocco Phillips – seriously injuring the government on this matter.

As a Timorese, I was very saddened and profoundly disappointed with the public and insulting remarks towards our Prime-minister Xanana Gusmão.

There were a few calming voices. I speak of Prof. Pedro Bacelar (Universidade do Minho) and the guinean Brother, Fernando Casimiro “Didinho” (http://www.didinho.org/) which brought intellectual honesty and courage to this dialogue.

In Timor-Leste, there is not any animosity towards the portuguese. And it could not be! This mess covers only one, albeit important, part of the Portugal / Timor-Leste cooperation.

It was with dismay that I received the news of the expulsion/deportation order. I would have managed the situation in a different manner: I would have invited the Portuguese Ambassador for an intimate conversation between friends; I would have given him the accusatory dossier; and given the documentation, the governments would decided together the next steps in a friendly way.

For over a decade, I was backed at the Foreign Affairs Office (2001-2006), Prime-Minister office (2006-2007) and in the Presidency (2007-2012) by advisors from countries of the CPLP and from many other nationalities — and they all were an example of professionalism and dedication from which I keep fond memories.

The Portugal / Timor-leste cooperation has been exemplary on all levels. An outstanding example of success is in the Education sector – the long queues at the Portuguese School in Díli and other Schools of Reference in the districts where fathers are eager to enrol their children is the real evidence of this.

Still in this sector, we have the programme co-ordinated by the Fundação das Universidades Portuguesas in the training and management of the Faculty of Law of the UNTL, today a very prestigious faculty, maybe the one which you can classify has the most successful.

In the area of defence and security: the bilateral relations are a working model; the quality of the training given by the portuguese instructors its well visible; another one is the cooperation in the police training sector with the support of PSP – Polícia de Segurança Pública.

GNR (Guarda Nacional Republicana) left a very good name amongst the timorese due to their professionalism and efficiency in the operacional performance, being respected even amongst the gangs that enjoyed testing and provoking them.

And we should not forget the excellent and generous cooperation of the municipalities, boroughs, NGOs’, Portuguese Church, etc, that worked very close and hard with the communities in forgotten areas of our country.

Maun Bot Xanana is a sincere and grateful Friend of Portugal; that no one doubts this.

After the late poet Borja da Costa and the writer Luís Cardoso (Takas), Xanana will be the biggest poet and cultivator of the Portuguese Language across all Asia.

Thanks to him, his vision and courage, supported by leaders like Francisco Lu-Olo Guterres and Mari Alkatiri, Mário and João Carrascalão, our venerable Bishops, Jesuit Father Filomeno Jacob, the Portuguese language, almost dead in 1999-2000, with less than 1% of people speaking, is now reborn, spoken or understood by more or less 30% of the population in just under 10 years, number that keeps growing.

The recent incident clouded the relationship between the two countries heavily, but these historical and profoundly human relations must be reinforced from this bad weather. Let´s try and put his episode in the past and at the same time seriously invest in the Justice sector, an essential pilar for a democratic State.