Timor-Leste, 2006

On behalf of President Xanana Gusmão and Prime

Minister José Ramos-Horta and on behalf of the people

of Timor-Leste, allow me to congratulate you, Madam,

on your election to the presidency of the General

Assembly at its sixty-first session. Your experience and

diplomatic ability will ensure the success of this

session.

I would also like to congratulate your

predecessor, His Excellency Jan Eliasson of Sweden,

for the critical role he played in the reform of the

United Nations, including the establishment of the

Human Rights Council and Peacebuilding

Commission.

I would also like to extend my congratulations to

permanent representatives and experts, for their

positive contributions during the long and arduous

negotiations. I take this opportunity to also

congratulate His Excellency the Ambassador of

Angola, Mr. Ismael Gaspar Martins, for his election as

President of the Peacebuilding Commission.

Allow me to extend the congratulations of the

people and Government of Timor-Leste to the people

and Government of Montenegro on their new

membership at the United Nations.

At the outset of this sixty-first session, a great

son of Africa and of the world, His Excellency Kofi

Annan, delivered his last report as Secretary-General

of our Organization. In the complicated international

landscape of the past 10 years, he and his team

contributed significantly to the advancement of the

noble ideals of the United Nations in the world,

including his decisive contribution to the independence

and liberation of my country, Timor-Leste.

Our people will never forget his decisive support

and we wish much success to him and to Mrs. Nane

Annan, whom we honour for her contribution to the

strengthening the role of women in the world and for

the compassion shown to those who suffer.

In July of this year, the Prime Minister of the

Constitutional Government, Mari Alkatiri, resigned

from his post and a new Government, under the

leadership of Prime Minister José Ramos-Horta, was

sworn in.

Since our independence in May 2002 and until

July of this year, significant gains were made in the

establishment of the institutions of the State and in the

creation of basic conditions to facilitate investment,

both national and international.

The new Prime Minister, in his speech to the

National Parliament, reiterated his determination to

implement the following policies — reconciliation; the

consolidation of security and reform of defence and

security institutions; parliamentary and presidential

elections before May 2007; the reduction of poverty,

economic growth and investment in rural areas; good

governance; the finalization of the land border

demarcation between the Republic of Indonesia and

Timor-Leste; and ratification of the agreement with

Australia, known as “Greater Sunrise”.

The Government will continue to implement the

national development plan, which was initiated by the

first Constitutional Government, and will do all it can

to attain the Millennium Development Goals as

outlined at the Summit in 2000.

06-53952 16

In relation to political affairs, the Government, in

conjunction with the Presidency, the National

Parliament, the political parties, the religious

institutions, civil society and traditional society, will

hold a national dialogue to recapture the confidence in

our State institutions that was lost.

Only yesterday, the Head of Government,

Mr. Ramos-Horta, met with the representatives of the

armed forces who had been dismissed — now referred

to as “the petitioners” — to once again find a solution

that is in conformity with the laws of Timor-Leste and

that is acceptable to the various parties involved in the

situation.

The Government of Timor-Leste is determined to

proceed with the reform of the security and defence

institutions, namely Falintil-FDTL and the National

Police Force of Timor-Leste.

The National Police Force, an institution whose

mandate it is to promote law and order, disintegrated

partially during the recent crisis. A first group of 25

members of the Police Force resumed duty this week

under a mentoring scheme run by the United Nations

Police in Timor-Leste. The reconstitution of the

National Police Force as a professional, non-partisan

police force is critical to stability.

As political leaders of a young nation, we

acknowledge that not every decision made was right

and that some decisions created discontent and were

part of the cause of the demonstrations in April, May,

June and July of this year.

We are all interested in carrying out a profound

and honest reflection on the causes of this crisis. The

President of the Republic, Mr. Kay Rala Xanana

Gusmão, the Prime Minister, Mr. José Ramos-Horta,

together with leaders of the Catholic Church and other

religious denominations, will co-organize a national

conference based on our culture and traditional values,

in which various actors, including civil and traditional

society, will participate.

(spoke in English)

As a post-conflict country, we have recently

experienced a relapse of violence owing to institutional

failures of our defence and police forces, high levels of

unemployment and wrong political decisions that we

took as leaders of a new country. As a result of the

violence, we had almost 150,000 internally displaced

persons and almost 100 dead. Consequently, the

President of the Republic, Mr. Xanana Gusmão, the

President of the Parliament, Mr. Francisco Guterres

Lu-Olo, and Prime Minister of the first Constitutional

Government, Mari Alkatiri, had to request international

help. Immediately, our closest neighbours, the United

Nations, members of the Association of Southeast

Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Community of

Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP), and members

of the Pacific Islands Forum extended their support in a

variety of ways.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank

Indonesia, Malaysia, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand,

Japan, China, the United States of America, Korea,

Kuwait, the CPLP, the European Union and Cuba, and

many other countries, for their invaluable support

during the recent crisis in Timor-Leste.

We also welcome the establishment of the

Independent Special Commission of Inquiry for Timor-

Leste by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to study the

events surrounding the crisis and the allegations of

human rights abuses. We commend the members of the

Security Council for their support in the creation of the

United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste

(UNMIT) pursuant to Security Council resolution 1704

(2006). We praise all United Nations and other

international agencies currently based in Timor-Leste.

Without their support, our response to the humanitarian

crisis would not have been as successful as it is today.

The Government is fully aware that reconciliation

and justice need to work hand in hand with

development. This fiscal year’s budget was increased

by 122 per cent. It focuses on job creation, not only in

towns, but fundamentally in rural areas, where the

majority of our population lives. It is a budget for the

poor. We hope that this new economic policy,

combined with the policies of reconciliation and

dialogue, will help defuse the tension and will build

common understanding and reinvigorate trust and

confidence in our common and shared future.

As in difficult times in the past, we are

determined to succeed and restore to the people of

Timor-Leste the stability and peace that we need to

develop our country and improve the living conditions

of our people.

To achieve these goals, we also need the support

of the United Nations and the international community

at large to help organize and supervise the upcoming

legislative and presidential elections in our country. A

17 06-53952

free, transparent and fair election will definitely pave

the way for a stable political and social environment.

In the international arena, we have seen an

increase in violence, war and intolerance. Last week, in

this Assembly, on 21 September, the President of the

Palestinian Authority, Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, made a

strong appeal to the international community to not let

the olive branch fall from his hand. The international

community needs to continue its strong support for the

forces of peace and moderation in Palestine and for the

President of the Palestinian Authority. The

international community also needs to engage the

elected Palestinian Government in order to find ways

to guarantee a free and democratic Palestine living side

by side with the State of Israel in peace and harmony.

After many years of conflict and violence, the

people of Lebanon need a peaceful environment. We

hope that the arrival of United Nations forces will help

protect that country’s sovereignty and its territorial

integrity.

In Darfur, Sudan, we require the sustained

attention of the international community in order to

bring to the people of Sudan the peace and stability

they need.

With respect to Western Sahara, we believe that a

dialogue between the Government of Morocco and the

leaders of the Polisario Front will help lead to a

solution in accordance with relevant United Nations

resolutions.

As a small country, we believe that

multilateralism, dialogue, negotiations, democracy,

human rights, respect for the Charter of the United

Nations, and respect for each others’ culture and

religious values, are the best answers for today’s

challenges and intolerance. We will continue to support

all initiatives, such as interfaith cooperation and

dialogue among civilizations.

After the Monterrey, Mexico, conference, in

March 2002, many initiatives were taken to increase

the financial resources of developing countries, one of

which was the Millennium Challenge Account. This

year Timor-Leste was selected as a threshold country,

and we are working with Millennium Challenge

Corporation members with a view to benefiting from

the grant funds.

We commend President George W. Bush, his

Administration, our friends in the House of

Representatives and Senate and the people of the

United States of America for that great initiative. It

will definitely help to reduce poverty and promote

development in our country and in other countries in

the developing world.

We also commend the European Union and its

Commission President, Mr. Durão Barroso, for its

continuing support for developing countries, including

Timor-Leste.

As a least developed country and a member of the

Group of 77 and China, we share the common view

that the allocation of 0.7 per cent of the gross domestic

product of developed countries to official development

assistance is crucial, not only for development in the

South, but also so as to maintain stability, peace and

progress in the world.

We would also like to welcome the recent

initiative of Brazil and France to tax air travel in order

to provide additional funds for financing development.

In conclusion, I would like to say a few words in

our national language, Tetum.

(spoke in Tetum; English text provided by the

delegation)

We would like to reiterate our thanks to all of

you, your peoples and your Governments for your

support during the crisis. I pray to God to continue to

protect you, your Governments and your peoples.