Word: referendum
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Hints of the fury that struck East Timor had been apparent since January. When Habibie unexpectedly offered locals a referendum on independence, militia groups who wanted continued ties with Jakarta began to organize and acquire guns. Even before the vote, independence campaigners were intimidated and dozens killed. Although the militias were clearly supported by elements of the Indonesian armed forces, the international community in May agreed to entrust security during the referendum period to Indonesia. It was a fatal misjudgment, as the bloodbath showed. Why the killing? There were all kinds of theories. Perhaps the military, angered at having...
...this diplomatic embarrassment that President Habibie proposed the referendum, ignoring the warnings of powerful military leaders, including armed forces chief General Wiranto. Habibie should have listened. Within hours of the Sept. 4 announcement that nearly 80% of the electorate had voted for independence, Dili and other towns echoed with gunfire as militiamen took over the streets, unchecked by the military. Civilians began pouring into churches, convents and U.N. compounds seeking safety (see accompanying story). "If there is a devil, these militia guys work for him," said a photographer evacuated from Dili after the referendum...
...referendum result was announced, I stood with independence leader Leandro Isaac on the steps outside the Mahkota Hotel as he hugged journalists and friends. "We will die if we have to," he told me, but even with the streets of Dili empty and thousands of refugees already taking shelter in schools and church compounds, nobody believed the worst-case scenario of Indonesian military brutality would happen. Shortly afterward, Dili descended into total violence. Most foreign journalists fled, but a core group of 30 of us remained, deciding to move to the Turismo Hotel for safety. Almost immediately police told...
...blush. "Social Democratic supporters have been shocked by Schroeder?s plans, because they?re so unlike the party?s traditional policies," says Sautter. And while Clinton?s policies were put before the voters at two-year intervals, an ongoing series of state and regional elections has provided an ongoing referendum on Schroeder?s. "This series of elections in quick succession is creating a snowballing rejection of Schroeder?s policies," says Sautter. And sooner than get voted out themselves, that may tempt the Social Democrats to ditch Schroeder and his policies...
...years since. But thus far in the current crisis, the Clinton administration has done a good job prodding Indonesia along the road to peace in East Timor. Pressure from the U.S., Indonesia's second-largest trading partner after Japan, helped convince Habibie to agree to a referendum in the first place and to permit peacekeepers. It may again prove invaluable as the specifics of the UN mission are worked...