Dili, East Timor – José Ramos-Horta, who came out of political retirement to run for president of Southeast Asia’s youngest nation a second time, has a raft of challenges as he embarks on his first full week in office.
Ramos-Horta, who has previously served as president and prime minister, decided to re-enter the political arena after accusing his predecessor Francisco Gueterres, popularly known as Lú Olo, of exceeding his constitutional powers and driving the economy into the ground.
Known by many as a revolutionary icon, Ramos-Horta was awarded the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize for his work fighting for East Timor’s independence. His global prominence has made him a revered figure within the country – now formally known as Timor-Leste – and abroad, and has allowed him to build an impressive network of friends, many of whom travelled to Dili to watch his inauguration.
Last week, Al Jazeera spoke to Ramos-Horta, who explained why he returned to politics and the kind of leader he hopes to be during his five years in office.
The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Al Jazeera: Why did you decide to run for president again?
José Ramos-Horta: I was approached in March 2020 by a large group of people who suggested to me that they wanted me to run again for president. Since 2018, current outgoing president [Lu Olo] made many decisions that were viewed as a violation of the constitution by declining to swear in many cabinet members of the then-majority party. He did this two or three times, which in my view and the view of many people, was an abuse of power by overstepping the boundaries of the limits of the president’s authority.
Soldiers take part in a parade to mark 20 years of independence for the country formally known as Timor Leste, one of the world’s youngest [Allegra Mendelson/Al Jazeera]
The government was also incapable of injecting life into the economy, especially in the midst of the pandemic. The president entertained himself by imposing lockdown and stay-away measures and that really damaged the economy. Then the government was incapable of compensating people for their work and for their losses.
Al Jazeera: Just a few days before you were to be sworn in, former President Lú Olo introduced a bill to further restrict the president’s powers. Why do you think he pushed for this law just before your inauguration?
Ramos-Horta: No one understands why [this bill was passed]. For one, it is totally unconstitutional. You have a constitution – you cannot have a bunch of political parties in parliament decide the limits of the power of the president. It is so idiotic.
People ask, ‘Well then these laws should also apply to the prime minister, to members of parliament, why only to the president?’ But they cannot because the power sharing is outlined in the constitution. They are so stupid. It’s a very fragile [coalition] government, a bit like if you marry a donkey with a monkey with a chicken.
Al Jazeera: Timor Leste has the lowest gross domestic product [GDP] per capita in Southeast Asia. What is your economic policy?
Ramos-Horta: I understand the limits of the power of the president. I can articulate the wisest policy strategy on how to address economic issues, like strong support for agriculture but that will be in the hands of the parliament to agree and to finance it.
I just hope that I can mobilise enough public support to it and enough support from the international community. I will instead tell the donors, please do not channel any money to the government – the government has access to its budget – all your money that you want to use to help, make sure that it goes directly to the communities, go through a United Nations system.
The ceremonies to mark the inauguration took place on May 20, marking 20 years since East Timor secured its independence after a brutal Indonesian occupation [Allegra Mendelson/Al Jazeera]
Al Jazeera: What will be your approach to tackling unemployment, especially among young people?
Ramos-Horta: Number one is we have to improve the education system. We have to focus more on job training and investing more in science and technology and less on humanities. Too many young people go into humanities because it’s easier. So we have to create incentives for students going into science.
I also have no problem with young Timorese people going abroad to work. They make much more money [abroad] than we will ever be able to pay them and they send money home. They learn new skills and they come back changed. It’s a bit like going to university but instead they go to work.
Another way is better education for our people and creating more jobs. We have to create incentives for young people to want to work in agriculture. This is difficult. If we had industrialised agriculture then maybe more young people would want to work but the reality in Timor Leste is we have small land and not much water resources, so I prefer small or midsize agriculture for national consumption. We don’t need to dream about exporting abroad.
Al Jazeera: As a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and longtime politician, you have a large network of international contacts. How could this affect your presidency?
Ramos-Horta: I don’t know whether I have any influence with the international community. I spend time cultivating relationships with people – diplomats, ambassadors, government people, but not with a sense of opportunism. I care about people.
My strength is not because I have numerous titles, those titles came about because of my performance and my commitment over the years. On a human level, I’m the most accessible leader anywhere in the world. If I were to show you my phone, you would see that hundreds of people have my phone number. So many people text me ‘Hello Grandpa’ and of course I cannot say hello or good morning or good night to 1,000 people but if someone calls me asking for help I try to help them with my own money or in some more serious cases I contact my sources in the country.
Al Jazeera: Your inauguration was also the 20th anniversary of Timor Leste’s independence. How has the country changed in the last 20 years?
Ramos-Horta: It has changed for much better. When we started, we had nothing – our annual budget was $63m, now it’s $3bn. Before, we had no electricity, now electricity covers 96.2 percent of the country. We had 20 medical doctors and now we have 1,200 medical doctors.
We have zero political violence and we don’t have any ethnic or religious violence. We don’t have organised crime – I often joke that we don’t have organised crime because generally, we are very disorganised as a country, so even the criminals don’t get organised.
Ramos-Horta, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996, has developed strong international networks of support [Allegra Mendelson/Al Jazeera]
We do have serious corruption but that’s more in the area of contracts whereby things are marked up. For instance, with road construction if it’s done by our government, there are networks of officials and while the bids are supposed to be secret, somehow they know and they pass on the information to their friends, the bidders, so they can outbid the competitors. Ideally we need to have an international and independent auditing to review when a contract is awarded, and review if it was done properly.
Al Jazeera: In your inauguration address you mentioned increasing bilateral relations with China, while also calling on China to lead global dialogue for peace. Some reports now claim that stronger ties with China are a priority for your presidency. What is your response to this?
Ramos-Horta: If you listen to my speech, it’s the only reference that I made that was actually more like an indirect criticism. We are one of the few countries in the world without any debt with China, and China is not even our biggest aid donor. Yes, Chinese companies have won construction projects, such as for road building, but they don’t win everything.
As I said in my [inauguration] speech, the countries that are most important to Timor Leste are Australia, New Zealand, ASEAN countries, Japan and South Korea. These are absolute priorities. Separate from that, China is important, but not more important.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.
Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.
A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”
Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.
“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.
In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”
“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”
Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.
Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.
Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.
“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.
“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.
“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.
“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”
NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”
“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.
Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.
She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.
Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.
Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.
The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.
Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.
“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.
“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”
The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.
In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.
“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”
In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.
“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”
Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.
Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.
“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”
In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.
In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.
“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”
Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.
“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”
The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.
“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.
“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
