Democratic Republic of East Timor
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975–1976 | |||||||||
| Anthem: Pátria (Portuguese) "Fatherland" | |||||||||
 East Timor in South East Asia | |||||||||
| Capital | Dili | ||||||||
| Common languages | Portuguese | ||||||||
| Government | Republic | ||||||||
| President | |||||||||
• 1975 | Francisco Xavier do Amaral | ||||||||
• 1975–1976 | Nicolau dos Reis Lobato | ||||||||
| Prime Minister | |||||||||
• 1975 | Nicolau dos Reis Lobato | ||||||||
| Historical era | Cold War | ||||||||
| 28 November 1975 | |||||||||
| 7 December 1975 | |||||||||
| 17 July 1976 | |||||||||
| ISO 3166 code | TL | ||||||||
| |||||||||
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| History of East Timor |
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| Chronology |
| Topics |
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The Democratic Republic of East Timor, (Portuguese: República Democrática Timor-Leste, Tetum: Repúblika Demokrátika de Timór-Leste), was a state that was unilaterally proclaimed on the territory of present-day East Timor on 28 November 1975 prior to the Indonesian invasion of East Timor nine days later on 7 December 1975.
History
editDeclaration of independence
editEast Timor was colonised by Portugal in the mid-16th century and administered as Portuguese Timor. After the 1974 Carnation Revolution in Portugal, a decolonisation process was initiated which was to have led to the formation of an elected Constituent Assembly in 1976. Three new parties emerged at this time; the Timorese Democratic Union which advocated continued association with Portugal, Fretilin which supported independence and Apodeti who supported integration into Indonesia.[1] In local elections held on 13 March 1975, Fretilin and UDT emerged as the largest parties, having previously formed an alliance to campaign for independence.
On 11 August 1975, the UDT attempted a coup, in a bid to halt the increasing popularity of Fretilin. Portuguese Governor Mário Lemos Pires fled to the offshore island of Atauro, north of the capital, Dili, from where he later attempted to broker an agreement between the two sides.
On 28 November 1975, Fretilin made a unilateral declaration of independence of the Democratic Republic of East Timor with Francisco Xavier do Amaral as president and Nicolau dos Reis Lobato as prime minister. This act was not recognised by either Portugal or Indonesia.[2][3][4]
Coup d'etat
editCivil war
editIndonesian invasion
editIn response, on 30 November 1975, Indonesia encouraged leaders of the UDT, Apodeti, and other smaller parties to sign the Balibo Declaration calling for integration of East Timor into Indonesia.[5] On 7 December 1975, Indonesian forces launched a massive air and sea invasion, known as Operasi Seroja (Operation Lotus), citing the potential for a communist government, the need to develop the territory and national and regional security risks as reasons for its actions. Indonesian forces occupied the capital, Dili within hours of launching the invasion during the Battle of Dili[6][7] and occupied the second largest city, Baucau on 10 December with Liquisa and Maubara being occupied in late December.[8]
Fall of Dili
editSubsequent events
editOn 17 December an Indonesian supported Provisional Government of East Timor (Pemerintah Sementara Timor Timur (PSTT)) was formed which was led by Arnaldo dos Reis Araújo of Apodeti and Lopez da Cruz of the UDT.[9][10] A Regional Popular Assembly was established on 31 May 1976 [11] which subsequently adopted a resolution calling for the formal integration of East Timor into Indonesia.[12] On 17 July 1976, Indonesia formally annexed East Timor as the province of Timor Timur with Arnaldo dos Reis Araújo as its first governor.[13]
The United Nations did not recognise the Indonesian sovereignty over East Timor and instead continued to recognise Portugal as the administering power as demonstrated by United Nations Security Council Resolution 384. An agreement in 1999 between the governments of Portugal and Indonesia led to a referendum on 30 August 1999 in which a majority of the people of East Timor voted for independence. Following a period of United Nations administration, East Timor became independent as the Democratic Republic of East Timor on 20 May 2002.
Government
editFollowing the declaration of independence a Council of Ministers was formed with Francisco Xavier do Amaral as President and Nicolau dos Reis Lobato as Prime Minister.
Presidents
edit| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Elected | Term of office | Political party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||
| 1 | 
|
Francisco Xavier do Amaral (1939–2012) |
— | 28 November 1975 | 7 December 1975 | 9 days | Fretilin |
| 2 | .jpg)
|
Nicolau dos Reis Lobato (1946–1978) |
7 December 1975 | 31 December 1978†[a] | 3 years, 24 days | Fretilin | |
Prime Minister
edit| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Election | Term of office | Political party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||
| 1 |
|
Nicolau dos Reis Lobato (1946–1978) |
— | 28 November 1975 | 7 December 1975 | 9 days | Fretilin |
Diplomatic recognition
editFollowing the declaration of independence of the Democratic Republic of East Timor, the state received diplomatic recognition form six mainly socialist states.
The states that recognised the Democratic Republic of East Timor were as follows:[14][15][16]
References
edit- ^ Ricklefs, M. C. (1991). A History of Modern Indonesia Since c.1300 (2nd ed.). MacMillan. p. 301. ISBN 0-333-57689-6.
- ^ "Declaration of Independence". Timor-Leste gov. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
- ^ "East Timor: Indonesia's invasion and the long road to independence". The Guardian. 29 August 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
- ^ "A Piece Of The Story Of East Timor's Independence From Portugal Then Indonesia Was "annexed"". VOI. 28 November 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
- ^ http://etan.org/etanpdf/timordocs/timmas36-7%2095-06-26.pdf
- ^ "Angkasa Online". Archived from the original on 20 February 2008.
- ^ Schwarz (2003), p. 204
- ^ Dunn (1996), pp. 257–60.
- ^ Schwarz (1994), p. 204.; Indonesia (1977), p. 39.
- ^ Taylor (1990), p. 9; Kohen and Taylor, p. 43; Budiardjo and Liong (1984), p. 15 and 96; Nevins, p. 54; Dunn (1996), p. 262; Jolliffe, p. 272. Budiardjo and Liong (1984) call it a "puppet government". Dunn comments: "In fact, the writer was told by Timorese officials who were in Dili at the time that the PGET had no separate existence or powers at all." Jolliffe notes a radio address from Fretilin leader Nicolau Lobato claiming that the PSTT had been sworn in on an Indonesian ship in Dili harbor.
- ^ Indonesia (1977), pp. 43–44.
- ^ Indonesia (1977), p. 44.
- ^ http://www.guruips.com/2020/01/integrasi-dan-lepasnya-timor-timur-dari-nkri.html>
- ^ "Declaration of Independence". Timor-Leste gov. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
- ^ "East Timor: Indonesia's invasion and the long road to independence". The Guardian. 29 August 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
- ^ "A Piece Of The Story Of East Timor's Independence From Portugal Then Indonesia Was "annexed"". VOI. 28 November 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
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