The Challenges of Nation‑State Building (original) (raw)

“East Timor’s Political Transition, Interim Processes, and Legitimacy”

Transition towards independence is most often than not a difficult road to cross. Leaderhsip challenges are amongst the most important mark to overcome. Timor-Leste succeeded in that regard. Nevertheless, statebuilding continues to bring about opportunities for the leaders to prove their ability to lead in this post-modern era where everything demands transparency and trust of the people depends on the degree of transparency in the process of governance. Like most countries, post-war or post-conflict countries, Timor-Leste has had its quota part of crises; like only a few that has succeeded, Timor-Leste can be proud of its achievement after only five years (since 2000) of transition and independence period, and looking at today, 2012, seven years since this paper was written, there is much to be proud of. Security and stability, national reconciliation and harmony are part of this reason to be proud. Critical sectors such as health and education, agriculture and infrastructures, have also move forward since then, but due to the mega nature of these sectors and, particularly, due to the difficulties inherent in post-conflict political environment, much more are still waiting to be done. If the last ten years of independence (May 20, 2002 to May 20, 2012) are to be fair indicators, Timor-Leste will succeed in overcoming these challenges to become a model for other developing countries facing similar challenges in their respective and unique road towards becoming a viable liberal democratic Nation-State.

Evaluating the Legacy of State-building in Timor-Leste

Asian Journal of Peacebuilding, 2021

With the benefit of almost 20 years of hindsight, in this article we evaluate the legacy of state-building in Timor-Leste. We find that much of the academic critique of the state-building mission has proven to be largely accurate: political and economic development has indeed been challenged by the legacy of key decisions made during the early state-building process. First, the focus on centralised state institutions has led to the underdevelopment of administrative, political, and economic decentralization. Second, the partisan nature of the constitution-making process has facilitated the continued concentration of political and economic power in the hands of certain elites. Third, the ambiguous-and at times conflictual-division of powers between state institutions has facilitated the emergence of political clientelism and undermined broad-based economic diversification and development.

Timor-Leste: The Adventurous Tribulations of Local Governance after Independence

Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs

Xanana Gusmão recently mentioned that a “Second Maubere Miracle” is underway, implying that a major political reform will soon shake the roots of Timor-Leste's public administration. Decentralization, defined in a very broad sense, has been a constitutional mandate since independence, but successive governments have failed to engage this reform despite paying lip service to its necessity. This essay reviews the options before the policy makers – both in theoretical terms (distinguishing between the various definitions of decentralization) and in the pragmatic forms that have been contemplated so far – and discusses their implications for the process of rooting a modern democracy in the country both at the intermediate, district level and at the grassroots, suku (village) level. For this purpose, the essay brings together the author's own field research and the rich literature that has emerged in the recent past, including contributions by Timorese colleagues.