Francisco Xavier do Amaral

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Francisco Xavier do Amaral at a 2007 election rally

Francisco Xavier do Amaral (* 1937 in Turiscai , Portuguese Timor ; † March 6, 2012 in Dili , East Timor ) was an East Timorese politician and the founding president of FRETILIN (Frente Revolucionária de Timor-Leste Independente) , of which he was the first chairman. He belonged to the Mambai ethnolinguistic group . Amaral's exact date of birth is unknown. He celebrated his birthday on December 3rd.

Career

Amaral was born the eldest son of a Liurai , a Timorese ruler who ruled his small empire until the Japanese invasion in 1942. The exact date of birth is not known. He went to school in Dili for two years and then moved to the Soibada Mission Seminary until he was 14 . Amaral completed his fifth year of school at the Nossa Senhora da Fatima seminary in Dare . From 1956 he received training at the São José Jesuit Seminary in Macau , studied philosophy and theology for seven years and qualified to become a priest. Amaral returned to Dili at the age of 28. He initially taught at the Salesian School , but the following year he founded his own school where he taught Portuguese literature and Latin . In 1963 Amaral started working at the customs house in Dili. He became a well-known political activist and intellectual. Together with Nicolau Lobato and José Ramos-Horta , Amaral founded the Associação Social Democrática Timorense (ASDT) on May 20, 1974 , which was renamed FRETILIN on September 11. In the same year, Amaral, as President of FRETILIN, visited FRELIMO , the independence movement in Mozambique .

On November 28, 1975, Amaral proclaimed East Timor's independence from Portugal and was sworn in as the country's first president . But on December 7th he had to flee to the mountains after the Indonesian invasion . Within FRETILIN, tensions grew between the social democratic wing and the Marxist wing. Amaral was politically rather conservative. On September 7, 1977, Amaral was arrested by FRETILIN because of differences of opinion about the course of action against the Indonesian occupation, and on September 14, he was declared deposed. Two months later, Nicolau Lobato was appointed his successor as president and party leader. The FRETILIN Central Committee accused him of treason for negotiating a troop reduction and a ceasefire at the local level in order to protect the people of his native Turiscai from atrocities by the Indonesian army . FRETILIN members captured him. Amaral was often relocated due to the skirmishes with the Indonesian military. He was left in Remexio in August 1978 when his guards were ambushed and promptly captured by Indonesian forces. Amaral came under house arrest and worked in the home of the Indonesian general Dading Kalbuadi , who was responsible for East Timor, first in Bali , and from 1983 in Jakarta . Here he looked after the general's orchids and horses. Occasionally Amaral was presented to the public for propaganda purposes, so in 1979 he was appointed Deputy Governor of Timor Timur , as East Timor was called a province by Indonesia. In 1993 Amaral appeared in talks organized by Indonesia in Cambridge . They wanted to slow down attempts by the United Nations to resolve the East Timor conflict. In 1995, Kalbuadi's children allowed Amaral to leave the house. He was housed in a small hut in Jakarta. After the resignation of the Indonesian dictator Suharto , an independence referendum was held in 1999 under international pressure . The population spoke out in favor of independence. In February 2000 Amaral returned to East Timor.

Amaral was rehabilitated by FRETILIN, but in 2001 he founded the conservative Associação Social-Democrata de Timor (ASDT), which consciously took up the old name of FRETILIN. On August 30, 2001 , Amaral was elected to the constituent assembly of the ASDT, which he chaired, which is now East Timor 's national parliament . The ASDT received the greatest support in the homeland of Amaral, among the Mambai in what was then the Manufahi district . After the 2007 elections , he initially renounced his seat in parliament, but replaced the outgoing José Manuel Carrascalão from 2009 until he was replaced by Clarinha Alves himself .

In April 2002, Amaral ran in the presidential election against Xanana Gusmão , but lost significantly. He received only 17.3% of the vote. During the election campaign, Amaral stated that he expected Gusmão to be defeated, but that he believed it was important to show the strength of East Timorese democracy by running an opponent for Gusmão. In the 2007 presidential election , Amaral ran again, but only got 14.39% and was eliminated after the first round of the election. Together with the third-placed Fernando de Araujo and the candidate Lúcia Lobato he put before the Tribunal de Recurso de Timor-Leste ( German  Court of Appeal of East Timor ) because of various irregularities appeal against the result, but failed it. Amaral also ran for the 2012 presidential elections. But as early as April 27, 2011 he was represented as ASDT chairman by Alberto da Costa , and in the party's new elections, alongside Amaral as chairman, tourism minister Gil da Costa Alves was elected as executive president. The Supreme Court of East Timor revoked the election, however, as the new party structure was inadmissible. Amaral's health deteriorated during the campaign phase. Amaral was hospitalized at the end of February, which is why the East Timorese National Parliament changed the electoral law on March 2nd, according to which the entire electoral process would otherwise have to be repeated if a candidate died. On the morning of March 6, 2012, at 8:45 am in the Hospital Nacional Guido Valadares (HNGV) , Amaral succumbed to colon cancer, which was diagnosed in 2011. During the night, the body was laid out in the presidential palace so that the population could say goodbye. The following day Amaral was buried in the Heroes' Cemetery in Metinaro .

family

Amaral married Lucia Osório Soares in 1974 , but soon separated from her. The Soares brothers were prominent members of the pro-Indonesia party APODETI . Such was José Abílio Osório Soares , the last sent from Indonesia governor of occupied East Timor .

Honors

Monument to Francisco Xavier do Amaral

The Avenida Xavier do Amaral in Dili is named after Amaral . On May 20, 2017, on the 15th anniversary of regaining independence, a larger than life statue of Amaral was inaugurated at the end of the street, in the roundabout by the Mercado Municipal .

Amaral was the holder of the Ordem de Dom Boaventura . In 2012 he was posthumously awarded the Grand Collar des Ordem de Timor-Leste .

Web links

Commons : Francisco Xavier do Amaral  - collection of images, videos and audio files

supporting documents

Main evidence

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d e f Damien Kingsbury: Francisco Xavier do Amaral: First President of East Timor, politician and elder statesman , Deakin University, March 7, 2012
  2. ↑ Pat Walsh : Winter of East Timor's patriarchs
  3. ^ Obituary by Francisco Xavier do Amaral at http: // timorlestevladimirageudesafii
  4. ^ A b c Anthony Goldstone: Francisco Xavier do Amaral obituary - The proclaimer of independence for East Timor , Guardian, March 8, 2012
  5. ↑ a b LUSA: Timor-Leste: O cuidador de orquídeas que foi Presidente por nove dias , March 17, 2017 , accessed on March 17, 2017.
  6. ↑ Pat Walsh: Winter of East Timor's Patriarchs , accessed December 25, 2018.
  7. ↑ Pat Walsh: Winter of East Timor's Patriarchs , accessed December 25, 2018.
  8. ↑ Monika Schlicher: East Timor faces its past , missio-hilft.de , accessed on January 28, 2019.
  9. ↑ Fatin Haksesuk: Rogerio Lobato é candidato a Presidente ( Memento of 1 March 2014 Internet Archive ); Forum Haksesuk, November 30, 2011 (Tetum and Portuguese)
  10. ^ Leste: Francisco Xavier do Amaral, o homem que declarou a independência do país (PERFIL) ; Lusa message in Expresso, March 6, 2012 edition
  11. ↑ Jornal da República : Edition of December 20, 2006 , accessed on March 22, 2018.
  12. ↑ Jornal da República: Decreto do Presidente da República nº 54/2012 de 19 de Maio , accessed on April 29, 2020.
personal data
SURNAME Amaral, Francisco Xavier do
BRIEF DESCRIPTION East Timorese politician
DATE OF BIRTH 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH Turiscai , Portuguese Timor
DATE OF DEATH March 6, 2012
Place of death Dili , East Timor