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Succession and other looming challenges for Timor-Leste
Twenty-five years after a landmark vote for independence, it faces a generational handover in leadership, old social conflicts and a potential fiscal crisis.
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Timor-Leste will commemorate the 25th anniversary of the referendum that secured its independence on Aug 30.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
Joseph Rachman
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On Aug 30, Timor-Leste will commemorate the 25th anniversary of the UN-sponsored referendum which secured its independence after more than 400 years as a Portuguese colony and almost a quarter of a century under Indonesian occupation.
Shortly after Portugal abandoned the territory in 1975, Indonesia invaded what was then called East Timor. The “New Order” government of president Suharto in Jakarta – and its backers in America and Australia – feared the new state could become a communist base in the region. Prior to the invasion, the left-wing Fretilin party had come out on top of a civil war in East Timor.
