East Timor's prime minister will likely resign, his spokesman said yesterday, as the president and members of the unpopular leader's own party joined a chorus of people saying he no longer had their trust.
"The prime minister will meet with his Cabinet colleagues [today] to discuss whether he should resign," Miguel Sarmento said.
Many East Timorese say Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri's decision to fire 600 disgruntled soldiers in March was to blame for subsequent clashes and gang warfare that left at least 30 people dead and sent nearly 150,000 people fleeing from their homes.
PHOTO: EPA
The violence -- which continued yesterday with at least six buildings set ablaze -- was the worst to hit the tiny Asian nation since it voted for independence from Indonesia seven years ago, sparking bloody rampages by revenge-seeking militias.
President Xanana Gusmao wrote a letter to Alkatiri asking that he step down, Sarmento said.
"I can only give you an opportunity to make a decision: you either resign ... or I will fire you myself because you no longer have my trust," he wrote, according to the Portuguese news agency Lusa.
Hours earlier, Alkatiri's ruling Fretilin party also demanded the prime minister's resignation, accusing him of lying about distributing weapons to civilians, party member Vicente Maubucy Ximenes said.
"We asked the president to suspend him as prime minister and form a transitional government while waiting for next year's election," Ximenes told reporters, claiming to speak for a majority of the party.
Alkatiri's critics have accused him of forming a hit squad to kill his political opponents, but Prosecutor-General Longuinhos Monteir said yesterday there was no evidence to support that, though investigations were ongoing.
Still, Monteir's decision on Tuesday to order the arrest of the country's former interior minister for allegedly giving guns to Vincente "Railos" da Concecao -- the self-proclaimed leader of the hit squad -- increased pressure on Alkatiri.
Violence has eased in recent weeks with the arrival of a 2,700-strong Australian-led peacekeeping mission, but arsonists set buildings on fire in different parts of Dili yesterday. Five houses and an administrative office were torched, firefighter Rernando Dacosti said.
Meanwhile, about 100 men staged a loud but orderly protest demanding Alkatiri resign, the second day the capital has seen demonstrations against him
"Step down Alkatiri!" they shouted outside Gusmao's palace, where Alkatiri and government ministers were meeting.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft