Associação Social-Democrata de Timor

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Flag of the ASDT

The Associação Social-Democrata de Timor ( ASDT , German  Association of the Social Democrats of Timor ) is a party in East Timor that is located in the center of politics or tends to be conservative and was founded in April 2001. From 2007 to 2012, the ASDT was one of five parties in the governing coalition in the national parliament of East Timor , the Aliança da Maioria parliamentarian AMP .

politics

ASDT logo

The goal of party founder Francisco Xavier do Amaral was to restore a government in line with the first East Timorese of 1975. Amaral was the first President of East Timor at the time. Compared to the historical ASDT of 1974, however, today's party has moved significantly to the right: It describes itself as the center-left party or the “socialist party of the center”, but observers consider it to be rather conservative. The party has its base with the old elites and the Liurai with strong support in individual communities down to the sucos .

There used to be close relationships with FRETILIN , more recently with Partido Social Democrata PSD and Partido Democrático PD . Possible coalitions were discussed with these parties even before the parliamentary elections on June 30, 2007 . The ASDT criticizes the progress made so far, which, in its opinion, is far behind what could have been achieved since independence. A stronger focus is now to be placed on the infrastructure outside the state capital Dili . A law and order policy and a stricter judiciary are to be used against crimes . English is to become the third official language of East Timor.

Party leadership

Francisco Xavier do Amaral at a 2007 election rally

The chairman of the ASDT until 2012 was Francisco Xavier do Amaral, who was one of the founders of the party of the same name in 1974, which was later renamed the Frente Revolucionária de Timor-Leste Independente FRETILIN . Due to his health problems, he was represented by Alberto da Costa since April 27, 2011 . At the party congress in August 2011, Amaral was re-elected, although he did not take part. The delegates elected tourism minister Gil da Costa Alves as executive president . The Tribunal de Recurso de Timor-Leste ( German  appeals court of East Timor ) revoked the new party structure as inadmissible. On March 6, 2012, Amaral succumbed to cancer. João Andre Avelino Correia and General Secretary Vicente dos Santos became the new party president . However, these were replaced by Francisco da Silva as President and General Secretary Norberto Pinto .

history

The first Associação Social-Democrata de Timor existed from May to September 1974, which was then renamed FRETILIN (Frente Revolucionária de Timor-Leste Independente) . The then President Francisco Xavier do Amaral was deposed from the left wing in 1977 due to differences of opinion, held prisoner and later fell into the hands of the Indonesian invaders. He lived in Indonesia until he returned to East Timor after the Indonesian occupiers withdrew in 2000. With former supporters from FRETILIN he re-founded the ASDT in April 2001.

In the parliamentary elections on August 30, 2001 , the party received 7.84% of the vote and thus six of the 88 seats in the parliament of East Timor. The ASDT received the strongest support in the home of party leader Amaral, in the Mambai- language areas of Manufahi . At first they worked closely with the FRETILIN government, but on March 14, 2005 the alliance broke up due to the increasing political crisis. ASDT, PST , PL and Partido Democrático PD formed an alliance in February 2007 in view of the country's acute problems. All cooperation with FRETILIN has been discontinued.

In 2002 Amaral ran as a presidential candidate against Xanana Gusmão , but lost heavily (17.3% of the vote). Amaral also failed in the 2007 presidential election with 14.39%. Amaral, who had run again as a candidate, died during the election campaign for the 2012 presidential election . General Secretary Costa Alves announced that the ASDT now wants to support the independent candidate Taur Matan Ruak . The National Executive Council of the ASDT also called on the members to do this. This was only followed by the supporters of Costa Alves, who is also named as the new party chairman. Amaral's old supporters, such as Francisco de Araújo and João Correia, supported the incumbent President José Ramos-Horta, who was eliminated in the first round.

In the parliamentary elections on June 30, 2007 , the ASDT entered a joint list with the Partido Social Democrata PSD. The list was called Coligação ASDT / PSD ( Coalition ASDT / PSD , C-ASDT / PSD for short). She received 15.73% of the vote and 11 of the 65 seats in parliament. It became the third strongest force after FRETILIN and CNRT. The alliance owes its success above all to ASDT supporters from the mountain regions, who belong to the Mambai ethnolinguistic group . The C-ASDT / PSD became the strongest force in these three districts at that time . FRETILIN, which became the strongest party with 21 seats, claimed leadership in a future government, be it a minority government or a coalition, but C-ASDT / PSD, CNRT and Partido Democrático PD formed a coalition under the Name alliance of the parliamentary majority together, short AMP. The AMP had a narrow majority in parliament with 37 seats. After unsuccessful negotiations with FRETILIN and mediation attempts by President Ramos-Horta, the CNRT chairman Xanana Gusmão was finally entrusted with forming a government and now headed an AMP government as prime minister. Gil da Costa Alves became Minister for Tourism, Trade and Industry and Abílo de Deus de Jesus Lima State Secretary for Environment.

José Ramos-Horta at an election campaign event of the ASDT, July 2012

At a party congress in early 2008, the ASDT decided to fire its representatives Costa Alves and Abílo Lima. She accuses both politicians of corruption , of being too close to the Indonesian military and economy and of not representing the ideology of the ASDT. Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão refused to dismiss them, whereupon the ASDT signed an alliance with FRETILIN in early May 2008. However, she did not leave the government coalition, but planned to work together with FRETILIN in the next elections. Both parties therefore called for new elections in spring 2009. The reason for this could be the resistance of the ASDT MPs to the plans to work with FRETILIN. The PSD, on the other hand, planned to remain in the coalition with the CNRT, despite dissatisfaction in its own ranks.

At the end of July 2009, José Manuel Carrascalão , head of the ASDT's group of deputies in the national parliament and deputy chairman of the ASDT, declared that his party would not support FRETILIN in campaigns against the AMP. In 2011 the MPs of the ASDT called on the National Electoral Commission to stop transferring money to the party account. The reason for this were unresolved internal party problems.

In January 2012, 800 ASDT members from Hera ( municipality of Dili ) joined the CNRT. After the process of independence from Amaral began, it was continued by Xanana Gusmão, which is why they now switched to the CNRT, explained a leading, local ASDT member.

The split in the ASDT was further evident when two lists were sent by the ASDT to the National Electoral Commission (CNE) for the 2012 parliamentary elections . One from Alves, who was close to coalition partner CNRT , and one from party leader Correia, whose parliamentary group wanted to make former President José Ramos-Horta the party's honorary chairman. The appeals court ruled that only the Correiras list complied with the required regulations for approval by a party congress. In the parliamentary elections on July 7, 2012 , the ASDT failed to pass the three percent hurdle with 1.80% (8,487 votes). She received over 3% in the districts of Aileu (6.09%) and Ainaro (4.21%).

In February 2013, Gil da Costa Alves was tried along with ASDT Treasurer Henrique Carlos in the Dili District Court. They were accused of embezzling party funds. The prosecutor asked for seven years in prison for Alves and six for Carlos. The accused's lawyers demanded acquittal because the money had been spent for the benefit of the party and not for their own purposes. Alves founded the Centro Acção Social Democrata Timorense (CASDT) in 2015 .

It was initially unclear whether the ASDT would be admitted to the 2017 parliamentary elections . As in 2012, the Tribunal de Recurso received two different electoral lists from different party groups. One from party leader João Andre Avelino Correia, one from party president Francisco da Silva and general secretary Norberto Pinto. Admission was ultimately refused. Likewise in 2018 .

Web links

Commons : Associação Social-Democrata de Timor  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

supporting documents

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Dennis Shoesmith: Political Parties and Groupings of Timor-Leste. 3rd edition, Australian Labor International / Australian Political Parties for Democracy Program, 2011, p. 20.
  2. ↑ Andrew McWilliam, Angie Bexley: Performing Politics. The 2007 Parliamentary Elections in Timor Leste. In: The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology , Volume 9 (2008), No. 1, pp. 66-82.
  3. ^ A b Norbert von Hoffmann: Social Democratic Parties in Southeast Asia Chances and Limits , November 2009, p. 12 , accessed on December 28, 2015
  4. ^ João M. Saldanha: Anatomy of Political Parties in Timor-Leste. In: Roland Rich: Political Parties in the Pacific Islands. ANU E Press, Canberra 2008, pp. 69-81, at p. 74.
  5. ↑ Expresso: Leste: Francisco Xavier do Amaral, o homem que declarou a independência do país (PERFIL) , March 5, 2012
  6. ↑ Electoral lists of the parliamentary elections 2012 ( Memento of the original from April 23, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.cne.tl
  7. ↑ a b Lusa: Timor-Leste / Eleições: 23 candidaturas apresentadas às eleições parlamentares de 22 de julho , June 5, 2017 , accessed on June 5, 2017.
  8. ^ A b Damien Kingsbury: Francisco Xavier do Amaral: First President of East Timor, politician and elder statesman , Deakin University, March 7, 2012
  9. ^ Independente: Partido Trabalhista supports Lu-Olo, ASDT may back Ruak , March 9, 2012
  10. ↑ Independente Xavier's supporter split on candidate choice , March 12, 2012
  11. ^ Radio Timor-Leste: ASDT National Council calls for its followers to vote for ex-army commander , March 15, 2012
  12. ↑ International Crises Group: Timor-Leste's Elections: Leaving Behind a Violent Past? , Update Briefing, Asia Briefing N ° 134, Dili / Jakarta / Brussels, 21 February 2012 ( Memento from March 3, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 1.4 MB)
  13. ^ Radio Timor-Leste, May 16, 2011, ASDT bench calls on election commission to stop transferring money to ASDT
  14. ↑ Timor Post: 800 members of ASDT affiliates to CNRT , January 16, 2012
  15. ↑ Michael Leach: Timor-Leste: the parliamentary campaign begins , Inside Story, June 8, 2012 , accessed June 10, 2012
  16. ↑ STAE ( memento of December 5, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ), accessed on September 9, 2012
  17. ↑ Suara Timor Lorosae: Prosecutor condemns Gil Alves 7-year imprisonment , March 1, 2013