Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06DILI333
2006-06-26 15:23:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Dili
Cable title:  

EAST TIMOR SITREP: PRESIDENT ACCEPTS PRIME MINISTER'S

Tags:  PGOV MOPS ASEC KCRM AS TT 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO0691
OO RUEHCHI RUEHNH RUEHPB
DE RUEHDT #0333/01 1771523
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O P 261523Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY DILI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2731
INFO RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0561
RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RUEHXX/GENEVA IO MISSIONS COLLECTIVE
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 0634
RUEHLI/AMEMBASSY LISBON PRIORITY 0552
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0394
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 0415
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON PRIORITY 0491
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 0285
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHDT/AMEMBASSY DILI 2056
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 DILI 000333

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/MTS
NSC FOR HOLLY MORROW
USPACOM FOR JOC AND POLAD
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/26/2016
TAGS: PGOV MOPS ASEC KCRM AS TT
SUBJECT: EAST TIMOR SITREP: PRESIDENT ACCEPTS PRIME MINISTER'S
RESIGNATION

REF: (A) DILI 316; (B) DILI 329

DILI 00000333 001.2 OF 004


CLASSIFIED BY: Grover Joseph Rees, Ambassador, U.S. Embassy
Dili, Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)



(1) (U) Summary:
--- President accepts Prime Minister's resignation;
--- Alkatiri requested concessions, including amnesty;
--- President to consult Council of State tomorrow on
transition government;
--- Ramos-Horta remains in office;
--- Demonstrators happy, but counter-demonstrators may arrive
tomorrow;
--- Security in Dili.
End Summary.

President accepts Prime Minister's resignation
-------------- --------------
--------------

(U) Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri sent a letter of resignation
to President Xanana Gusmao late this afternoon. The President
immediately accepted the resignation.

(SBU) The resignation came almost a week after President Gusmao
had demanded Alkatiri's resignation and threatened to dismiss
him if he did not resign. In the interim Alkatiri repeatedly
told the President and other interlocutors that he was "willing"
or "ready" to resign, only to step back from the decision and
propose alternative solutions and/or further dialogue. Even
Alkatiri's public announcement this morning, which was reported
as a resignation by the international press, was actually only
another announcement of "readiness" to resign. The Prime
Minister also announced that he was "ready" to engage in
dialogue with the President about a transitional government and
to "help" with the national budget. Observers close to the
situation, including the President, interpreted this statement
not as a resignation but as an indication of willingness to
engage in dialogue about the possibility of resignation. The
President reportedly sent a message to the Alkatiri camp that he
would consider transitional arrangements only after receiving an
unequivocal letter of resignation from the Prime Minister. Late

this afternoon the President finally received such a letter.
The letter also reportedly offered to remain as Prime Minister
until such time as the national budget is approved by Parliament
--- a process that could take weeks or even months --- but the
President has issued a press release saying he had "informed Dr.
Alkatiri that his resignation enters into effect as from today."

Alkatiri requested concessions, including amnesty
-------------- --------------
--------------

(SBU) Some of the then-Prime Minister's transitional concerns
had to do with his personal situation. Foreign Minister Jose
Ramos-Horta, who has acted as an intermediary between Gusmao and
Alkatiri, told the Dili diplomatic corps this morning that on
Friday the Prime Minister had said he would resign but had
stated three concerns: whether he would be allowed to retain
his government residence; whether his six-person security detail
could be protected from retaliation, suggesting that such
protection might come in the form of emigration to Australia or
some other country; and whether he would be permitted to take a
foreign vacation for several months before returning to Timor.
This last concern may have arisen from reports that prosecutors
may be prepared to charge Alkatiri with illegal distribution of
arms. According to Ramos-Horta, the Prime Minister raised these
three concerns with him again this morning, plus an additional
item: Alkatiri suggested a general amnesty for everyone who had
committed crimes in connection with the crisis that has gripped
the country since April 28.

(SBU) Another set of transition concerns were political.

DILI 00000333 002.2 OF 004


Although the ruling Fretilin party's Central Committee (CCF)
unanimously passed a resolution yesterday to oppose Alkatiri's
resignation, this may have been part of a strategy to extract a
commitment from the President to accept a Fretilin insider as
the new Prime Minister. A CCF delegation consisting of Minister
of State Administration Ana Pessoa, Minister of Agriculture
Estanislau Da Silva, Minister of Labor Arsenio Bano, and Timor
Sea Designated Authority Director Jose Lobato had requested a
meeting with the President this morning to discuss transition
arrangements, even before the Prime Minister's announcement of
"readiness" to resign. The delegation reportedly intended to
propose Pessoa as a successor Prime Minister. The President did
not meet with the delegation today.

(SBU) Comment: The President's acceptance of prime Minister's
Alkatiri's resignation does not rule out the possibility of
addressing some or all of the Fretilin leadership's political
concerns, or even the former Prime Minister's personal concerns.
It does, however, suggest that these concerns will now be
addressed on their merits rather than as preconditions for a
solution to the political crisis. End Comment.

President to consult Council of State tomorrow on transition
government
-------------- --------------
--------------

(U) In the press release announcing his acceptance of the Prime
Minister's resignation, the President also announced that he has
called a meeting of the Council of State for tomorrow morning,
June 27. The Council of State, which met last week to consider
President Gusmao's proposal that Alkatiri either resign or be
dismissed (see Ref A),is also charged by the Constitution to
"advise the President of the Republic in the exercise of his or
her functions, as requested by the President."

(C) Gusmao's decision to meet immediately with the Council of
State, rather than to meet first with the Fretilin leadership,
took some observers by surprise. Article 106 of the
Constitution states that a new Prime Minister is nominated by
the "political party or alliance of political parties with a
parliamentary majority" and appointed by the President after
consultation with all parties in Parliament. The President has
stated recently, however, that there is currently no legally
elected Fretilin leadership to propose a new Prime Minister,
since the recent Fretilin Congress elected party officers by
show of hands rather than secret ballot as required by law --- a
surprise maneuver that may well have affected the outcome of the
election. See Ref A. Last week he requested that the delegates
to the Fretilin Congress be recalled to elect party officers in
accordance with law. See Ref A. This weekend's CCF meeting was
expected to address the President's request, but did not do so.

(C) According to his Chief of Staff, Agio Pereira, President
Gusmao may seek to moot the legal issue by asking someone ---
most likely Ramos-Horta --- to attempt to form a government by
consulting directly with members of Parliament, not with party
committees. Ramos-Horta could comply with the Constitution by
forming a government acceptable to the Fretilin Members of
Parliament, even if it were not acceptable to the CCF, which is
dominated by members of the "Mozambique group" and other close
Alkatiri associates. Alternatively, he could form a government
acceptable to an "alliance of parties with a parliamentary
majority" if 15 or so of the 55 Fretilin members of Parliament
could be persuaded to join 30 or so of the 33 opposition
members. If, after diligent efforts, it appeared impossible to
form a government acceptable both to the majority party or
alliance in Parliament and to the President, the President could
invoke article 86 of the Constitution, which gives him the
authority to dissolve the National Parliament and hold new
elections in cases of "serious institutional crisis preventing
the formation of a government."

(C) Among candidates for Prime Minister reportedly favored by
the current leadership of Fretilin are Minister Pessoa and

DILI 00000333 003.2 OF 004


Minister Da Silva. Although both of these candidates --- like
Alkatiri --- are regarded as capable, and neither is tainted
with the allegations of criminal activity and personal
corruption that have been made against Alkatiri, both are
members of the Mozambique group and have been regarded as among
Alkatiri's closest political allies. It is far from clear that
the replacement of Alkatiri with Pessoa or Da Silva would help
to end the ongoing politial crisis.

(SBU) Bishop Alberto Ricardo Da Silva of Dili, who met with the
President this afternoon, later told the press that he had urged
the President to select someone with broad popular appeal, such
as Ramos-Horta or Jose Luis Guterres, East Timor's Ambassador to
the United Nations and to the United States. Many observers,
including President Gusmao, believe Guterres would have defeated
Alkatiri for Fretilin's top leadership position (Secretary
General) in May if the vote had been by secret ballot as
required by law. Ambassador Guterres is reportedly en route
from New York to East Timor.

(SBU) A possible compromise candidate is Minister of Health Rui
De Araujo, a highly regarded official who is not a Fretilin
party member but who is reportedly on a list of candidates
recommended by Alkatiri.

Ramos-Horta remains in office
--------------

(SBU) Alkatiri's resignation also mooted, at least for the
duration of the crisis, the announced resignation of
Foreign/Defense Minister Ramos-Horta. Late yesterday (June 25),
Ramos-Horta had announced that he would resign from both
Cabinet positions but would remain on the job until a successor
or successors are chosen. This announcement appears to have
been intended primarily as a means to apply greater pressure on
Alkatiri to resign, since it was unlikely that Prime Minister
Alkatiri and President Gusmao could have reached agreement on
new Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense at any time in the
foreseeable future. In subsequent statements Ramos-Horta made
it clear that he would be available to serve in a new cabinet if
called upon to do so. Horta's resignation announcement was
followed by similar resignation announcements from
Transportation Minister Ovidio Amaral, Vice Minister of Health
Luis Lobato, and the Prime Minister's Gender Advisor, Domingas
Alves. Rumors proliferated overnight that additional cabinet
members would soon resign, but these rumors died down after word
got out of Alkatiri's latest announcement.

Demonstrators happy, but counter-demonstrators may arrive
tomorrow
-------------- --------------
--------------

(SBU) The anti-Alkatiri demonstration in Dili, consisting of at
least several thousand demonstrators and perhaps up to 20,000,
continued today. The news of Alkatiri's resignation was met
with cheers and honking of horns, and the demonstration now
appears to have transformed into a giant street party. Many,
but not most, of the demonstrators appear to have left Dili in
response to the news of Alkatiri's resignation.

(SBU) Embassy continues to receive reports that pro-Alkatiri
demonstrators may enter from the East. As of this writing,
approximately 30 vehicles carrying an estimated 700 to 800
pro-Alkatiri demonstrators are in Metinaro (approximately 40
minutes east of Dili by road) where they stopped to allow their
whole convoy to assemble before entering Dili. There remains a
small chance that they will head into Dili this evening, but it
is more likely that they will arrive tomorrow, and it is also
possible that today's events will persuade some or all of them
not to come at all. According to Foreign Minister Ramos-Horta,
many of these demonstrators have been misled by Fretilin
organizers who have told them that President Gusmao is about to
be overthrown by the Australian forces, and that they believe
they will be demonstrating in support of East Timor's

DILI 00000333 004.2 OF 004


sovereignty rather than of Alkatiri personally. Emboff traveled
to Metinaro today and found the crowd to be more antagonistic
than the current crowds in Dili. There are concerns that their
arrival could create a more volatile environment in Dili, but
the Australian-led Joint Task Force (JTF) plans to keep the two
groups of demonstrators separate.

Security in Dili
--------------

(U) The Australian Federal Police (AFP) reported a minor fire
near the Palacio do Governo over the weekend and several
gunshots in the Fatuhada and Marconi neighborhoods. Three
Timorese in a green SUV were reportedly stopped by demonstrators
near the Portuguese Ambassador's residence. Portuguese special
police (GNR) intervened, but not before the incident reportedly
resulted in a broken windshield.
REES