17 July 2008

National Media Legal News 16 July 2008

UNMIT Daily Media Review 16 July 2008

Ed: accusation politics not educating people – Suara Timor Lorosa’e


It is normal that in a political democracy there are different ideas of government political decisions. If there are no critics then there is no democracy, only authoritarianism that does not allow criticism and rejects differences in ideas. But freedom allows that there are norms with respect to others’ dignity. Political leaders should educate the community by providing good examples to the people; they should teach how to express their opinions and criticisms to find the way to resolve existing differences.

In June, leaders of the country showed something that people do not accept; Fretilin’s Secretary General Mari Alkatiri and the party’s Vice President Bano accused Xanana of bad governance. Mr. Alkatiri expressed this to the international media, Australia and Portugal, which did not give respect to Xanana’s dignity. Xanana was also angry with the accusation and, in turn, expressed the bad administration that took place during Alkatiri’s governance. The psy war between the two leaders leaves no input to the people as it is not a tradition of democracy – this tradition belongs to primary school students. We all should be careful with their manoeuvres behind the curtain – we only need national political stability and a sense of security for the country. Amin…

Post sponsored by East Timor Law Journal - Towards the rule of law in Timor-Leste

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