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KOMPAS.com – Today, 21 years ago, to be precise on August 30, 1999, Timor Leste (formerly known as East Timor) held a vote or referendum to choose to leave or stay in Indonesia.
East Timor was previously part of Indonesia as the 27th province.
On August 30, 1999, a vote was held for East Timorese to decide whether to remain in Indonesia or to become their own state.
The referendum that was supported by the United Nations (UN) ended the previous conflict and provided them with a way to become independent from Indonesia.
Timor Leste was officially recognized as an international country only 3 years after the vote, that is, in 2002.
Also read: Jeremy Teti Stories of being caught by a gun while covering the conflict in Timor Leste
What is the history of the liberation of East Timor (Timtim) from Indonesia?
Referendum
Reported AFP via Kompas.com, (8/30/2019), For 24 years, the people of East Timor have lived in conflict, hunger and disease. More than 250,000 victims died as a result of this condition.
The resolution of the problem in East Timor was coming to an end in the popular consultation of August 30, 1999.
Reported Daily kompasOn Tuesday August 31, 1999, the opinion determination to determine the future of East Timor on Monday (8/30) went smoothly and successfully.
At that time, the number of voters who participated reached 90 percent, so it was not necessary to extend the opinion determination.
The vote was tinged with incidents in various places. One of them was an elementary school teacher who was chased by a group of people.
He shouted that the survey was dishonest because the Unamet employees were CNRT people. After that, her back was stabbed to death.
Still, the results of the opinion polls continued and the results were eventually brought to the UN.
Also read: Today in History: Indonesia recognizes the results of the East Timor referendum
Results of the test
Reported Daily kompasOn Sunday (5/9/1999), the UN finally announced the results of the opinion determination (opinion poll). UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in New York announced it on Saturday (9/4) at 08:00 WIB.
As a result, out of approximately 450,000 voters, 78.5 percent (344,580) of East Timorese voted to reject autonomy, and about 21 percent (94,388) voted for autonomy, while 7,985 votes (1, 8 percent) were declared void.
According to Kofi Annan, these results indicated that the people of East Timor wanted independence.
At the same time, the director of Unamet Ian Martin, in Dili, read the advertisement, which was translated into Indonesian, Portuguese and Tetum.
In his speech, Annan called on all parties to stop all acts of violence that for 24 years caused suffering in East Timor.
Although the general atmosphere in East Timor was tense, in several places a small proportion of the population expressed their joy by running through the streets and cheering. They hugged and cried.
Also, although at that time it meant that East Timor separated from Indonesia, they still went through a long process until they were recognized by the world and changed their name to Timor Leste.
Also read: How is the economy of Timor Leste after 18 years of independence from Indonesia?
So how is Timor Leste (East Timor) doing now?
Timor Leste Economy
Reported page Heritage, Timor-Leste’s economic freedom score is 45.9. This places Timor Leste at 171st in the world in the 2020 index.
In the Asia-Pacific region, Timor Leste is ranked 40th out of 42 countries and its overall score is well below the regional and world averages.
Timor Leste’s economy has seen little sign of economic independence since it was included in the Index in 2009. Growth in gross domestic product (GDP) is weak.
The country’s economy depends on public spending that is financed with withdrawals from the Petroleum Fund.
As reported Kompas.comOn Sunday (5/7/2020), the official report of the World Bank in 2020, stated that the economic growth of Timor Leste is still slow compared to the countries of Southeast Asia.
The country, officially known as the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste, remains one of the poorest countries in the world.
Also read: Timor Leste, the ancient state of Indonesia
Per capita income
Citing the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) report, Timor Leste is ranked 152 countries as the poorest country in the world out of 162 countries.
Timor Leste’s GDP per capita figure is estimated to reach US $ 2,356 or around IDR 34.23 million (exchange rate of IDR 14,532) by December 2020.
This achievement was still below Indonesia’s per capita income in 2019, which stood at US $ 4,174.9 or around Rs 60 million.
Several sectors of the Timor Leste economy continue to depend heavily on Australia and Indonesia, especially on imported products.
Timor Leste itself is still dependent on income from petroleum products. In 2019, Timor Leste’s oil production reached 38 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE), which had extensive collaboration with Australia.
Meanwhile, citing data from the Timor Leste Economic Report released by the World Bank in April 2020, Timor Leste’s economy will worsen in 2020 due to the corona virus (Covid-19) pandemic and unstable political conditions.
The government of Timor Leste has disbursed 250 million from the Petroleum Fund, of which 60 percent was used to manage Covid-19.
Other obstacles to their economic freedom are rampant corruption and the ineffectiveness of the judiciary, which undermines the integrity of the government.
On the other hand, the independent Anti-Corruption Commission does not have the authority to arrest or prosecute. For the most part, the public procurement process remains opaque.
Also read: Today in history: 19 people died in the Santa Cruz incident, Timor Leste
