East Timor's prime minister may resign

East Timor’s president gave his beleaguered prime minister a dismal choice today – resign or be fired – saying he no longer had the trust of the people following weeks of bloody street battles in the capital.

Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, who appeared to have lost even the support of his ruling Fretilin party, will likely agree to step aside, his spokesman said, adding that he could do so as early as tomorrow.

Many East Timorese say Alkatiri’s decision to fire 600 disgruntled soldiers in March was to blame for subsequent clashes and gang warfare that has left at least 30 people dead and sent nearly 150,000 people fleeing from their homes.

The violence – which continued today with at least six buildings set ablaze - was the worst to hit the tiny Asian nation since it voted for independence from Indonesia seven years ago, sparking deadly rampages by revenge-seeking militias.

Alkatiri’s resignation could be the political step needed to ease the crisis.

“It is clear that for months he has been isolated and hasn’t been governing the country and has no popular support at all,” said Mark Aarons, the author of East Timor: A Western Made Tragedy who has written about the country since the 1970s.

President Xanana Gusmao wrote a letter to Alkatiri after an advisory body of senior ministers, known as the Council of State, met for several hours today to try to find a solution to the crisis.

“I can only give you an opportunity to make a decision: you either resign, after hearing from the Council of State, or I will fire you myself because you no longer have my trust,” he wrote, according to the Portuguese news agency Lusa.

Alkatiri’s spokesman Miguel Sarmento, when asked whether he would step down, said: “Yes, I think so.”

The prime minister was expected to make the decision tomorrow after meeting with his Cabinet, he said.

Earlier, Alkatiri’s ruling Fretilin party also demanded the prime minister step down, accusing him of lying about distributing weapons to civilians, said party member Vicente Maubucy Ximenes.

“We asked the president to suspend him as prime minister and form a transitional government while waiting for next year’s election,” Ximenes told reporters, claiming to speak for a majority of the party.

Alkatiri had long rebuffed demands for his resignation, saying his party wanted him in power.

His critics have accused him of forming a hit squad to kill his political opponents, but Prosecutor-General Longuinhos Monteir said there was no evidence to support that, though investigations were ongoing.

Still, his decision to order the arrest of former Interior Minister Rogerio Lobato for allegedly giving guns to Vincente “Railos” da Concecao – the self-proclaimed leader of the hit squad – added pressure on Alkatiri.

Even if Alkatiri had no involvement in the squads, he was nonetheless informed in a letter from a police official that civilian militias had been armed with government weapons, the Australian current affairs programme Four Corners reported on Monday.

“No political leader can resist having to step down under such enormous political pressure and after being exposed as a liar,” Aarons, the author, said.

Lobato was holed up in his home today, with Australian troops guarding his street.

“He is under house arrest, that is my understanding,” said UN special representative Sukehiro Hasegawa.

Violence has eased in Dili in recent weeks with the arrival of a 2,700-strong Australian-led peacekeeping mission, but arsonists set five houses and an administrative office on fire today, said firefighter Rernando Dacosti.

Meanwhile, about 100 men staged a loud but orderly protest demanding Alkatiri resign, the second day the capital has seen demonstrations against him.

“Step down Alkatiri!” they shouted outside President Gusmao’s palace, where Alkatiri and government ministers were meeting.

“We came to force Xanana to please make a decision and to hear the people,” organiser Augusto Junior Tridade said, before leading the protesters to the UN headquarters in Dili.

Hasegawa greeted the men and urged them to express their opinions peacefully.

The UN Security Council extended the mandate of the UN office in East Timor for two months yesterday and urged all parties in the beleaguered nation to refrain from violence and take part in the democratic process.