I heard the news from East Timor this morning and can’t honestly say I was very surprised. It’s notable that while the political and social situation in that nation is far from stable, there appears to be a dedicated set of interests in train, with Ramos Horta and Gusmao swapping places over the period since independence. Clearly, the political power base which both politicians sprang from remains out of favour, either with the people of East Timor, or, and I suspect this is the more likely, those vested interests which want a non-Fretilin flavour to the Timorese government.
It’s all well and good that Fretilin has condemned the assassination attempts however I’m left wondering just who was behind the attempts to begin with. I don’t see Reinado being the mover & shaker, more likely to scape-goat. As events transpired, the sacrificial goat. Is Alkatiri in the mix? Who knows, but clearly being in a position of power in Timor-Leste is not a life-prolonging enterprise.
Feb 112008