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Local Governance in Timor-Leste - Secretaria de Estado da Arte e ...

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stalled as Parliament <strong>de</strong>bates the various issues <strong>in</strong>volved (Borges 2010). It is yet to beseen what impact <strong>de</strong>centralisation will have on local governance <strong>in</strong> <strong>Timor</strong>-<strong>Leste</strong>—anissue I return to <strong>in</strong> chapter eight.At the local level, the konsellu <strong>de</strong> suku was established through Decree Law 5/2004by the Fretil<strong>in</strong> government, formally acknowledg<strong>in</strong>g the ongo<strong>in</strong>g role of traditionalauthorities with<strong>in</strong> the suku of <strong>Timor</strong>-<strong>Leste</strong> but with some mo<strong>de</strong>rnis<strong>in</strong>g changes toencourage greater representation for women and young people. The konsellu <strong>de</strong> sukuis thus composed of a mixture of 'old' and 'new' <strong>in</strong>stitutional figures. The old<strong>in</strong>stitutional figures <strong>in</strong>clu<strong>de</strong> the xefe suku, all of the xefes al<strong>de</strong>ia, one suku el<strong>de</strong>r andone lia-na'<strong>in</strong>. The new <strong>in</strong>stitutional figures <strong>in</strong>clu<strong>de</strong> two women's representatives, andtwo youth representatives—one man, one woman. All members are directly electedby the people of the suku, except the lia-na'<strong>in</strong>, who is appo<strong>in</strong>ted dur<strong>in</strong>g the firstmeet<strong>in</strong>g of the konsellu <strong>de</strong> suku follow<strong>in</strong>g election <strong>in</strong>to office. As Decree Law 5/2004was <strong>in</strong>ten<strong>de</strong>d as bridg<strong>in</strong>g legislation, it has s<strong>in</strong>ce been replaced with Decree Law3/2009, follow<strong>in</strong>g nation-wi<strong>de</strong> consultation conducted by the <strong>Timor</strong>-<strong>Leste</strong>government <strong>in</strong> late 2008. However, an ongo<strong>in</strong>g issue for local governance s<strong>in</strong>ce thekonsellu <strong>de</strong> suku was created cont<strong>in</strong>ues to be a lack of resourc<strong>in</strong>g, and subsequentdisempowerment, of the elected officials.As we trace through the various stages of foreign occupation <strong>in</strong> <strong>Timor</strong>-<strong>Leste</strong>, it isclear that the common thread for local governance and communal i<strong>de</strong>ntity has beenthe centrality of k<strong>in</strong>-based groups bound together via lisan. Fieldwork strongly<strong>de</strong>monstrates that this cont<strong>in</strong>ues to be the case for local governance <strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong><strong>de</strong>pen<strong>de</strong>nt<strong>Timor</strong>-<strong>Leste</strong>, as traditional <strong>in</strong>stitutions and <strong>de</strong>pen<strong>de</strong>ncies flow<strong>in</strong>g from these<strong>in</strong>stitutions operate alongsi<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong>mocratic i<strong>de</strong>as of legitimacy. The question of how the<strong>in</strong>stitution of konsellu <strong>de</strong> suku fits <strong>in</strong>to this broa<strong>de</strong>r governance environment is thefocus for the rema<strong>in</strong><strong>de</strong>r of this thesis.107

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