Subject: East Timor policy is in nation's best
interests: Habibie
Date: Sat, 25 Sep 1999 09:57:15 -0400 East Timor policy is in nation's best interests:
Habibie
JAKARTA, Sept 21 (AFP) - Indonesian President B.J. Habibie said Tuesday his
government's policy on East Timor was made with the best interests of the nation at heart
as he answered his first summons from parliament.
He also urged the Indonesian people to accept the East Timorese vote for independence
in the August 30 ballot, and said he hoped the country's national assembly would ratify
the results.
"My intention is only one, that is that the settlement of the East Timor issue
should not drag on, so that in overcoming the crisis and entering the third millennium,
the Indonesian nation will already be in a condition that is free from international
pressure," Habibie said.
Habibie was addressing a full plenary session of the People's Representative Council
(DPR), the lower house, in reply to a summons sent by leaders of the parliament last week.
His statement was greeted by applause by the floor, which also observed a moment's
silence to honor the Indonesians killed in and since the 1975 invasion of the former
Portuguese colony.
"For the first time in the history of the Republic of Indonesia, a president is
asked to give an explanation to the People's Representative Council about the policies
taken by the government," Habibie said.
He said the "invitation" from the parliament and his appearance was a sign of
the close cooperation between the government and the legislature.
Habibie said that as the official most responsible for the settlement of the East Timor
issue, "in all humility, I will account for all policies taken in front of the
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR)."
The new MPR, the country's highest legislative body, will convene begining next month
and will pick a new president for the next five years in November.
Under the law, a president has to account for his government's actions to the MPR at
the end of his term.
Habibie has come under increasing criticism at home after in January offering East
Timor independence if its people rejected a Indonesian offer of broad autonomy.
Criticism redoubled when he agreed to a UN-backed multinational force for East Timor to
reestablish law and order there, despite the imposition of a martial law on September 7.
The force began deploying on Monday.
Replying to a written question on East Timor attached to the summons sent to him, the
president said the alternative to autonomy was not so much independence for East Timor,
but a merely a return to the conditions in 1976, when it was a non-self-governing
territory.
He reminded the parliament that even though East Timor was under Indonesian law legally
incorporated into Indonesia through a decree of the MPR in 1976, the move "has not
been recognised by the international community and the Portuguese constitution still
includes East Timor as its territory."
"Because the people of East Timor, in line with their conscience, have expressed
their desire to live by rejecting the offer for broad autonomy and special status, then as
a nation, we should respect and accept that choice," Habibie said.
"Based on this, it is hoped that the People's Consultative Assembly which will
hold its general assembly later, will accommodate the aspirations of the people of East
Timor, in line with the values contained in our constitution," he said.
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