It seems the Deputy Prime Minister of East Timor has resigned over charges of corruption and being insulted by the Prime Minister. He evidently didn’t like the use of the term ‘stupid liar’ – well, who would?
Gosh, what a great place to set up an offshore processing centre for asylum seekers (regional initiative, of course) - a failed micro-state with pretensions (including having signed the UN Convention on Refugees)!
Perhaps it is mere coincidence, but there seems to have been a signficant rise in the number of boats entering Australian waters since the election. Christmas Island is chockers, yet again.
Julia really needs to give Gusmao a call – he is after all Head of Government, not Head of State (major difference by the way) to get the ball rolling. I wouldn’t wait for him to call.
A lot of the things she said during the campaign trail were for short term gain. The East Timor solution was a bit like the Western Sydney rail link. It was done to get a positive sound bite in the daily media cycle, not because she actually intended doing it.
daddy dave
8 Sep 10 at 9:40 pm
Ms Sloan
Forgive the frivolity, but tis the season for the absurd.
Let’s project one possible aspect as the flippant idea that PM Julia appoints Kevin Rudd as Defence Minister.
Fast forward the Tardis:
JG: No Kevin, no ! I said we need to launch a CHARM offensive on Dili !!
KR: I love the smell of napalm in the morning !
JG: Oh my god…
What more could possibly go wrong in the next twelve months before the August 2011 federal election ?!
Myrddin Seren
8 Sep 10 at 10:12 pm
The Deputy PM wasn’t accused of corruption, he was accusing the government of corruption (for which he was called an idiot and a liar) and highlighted 29 problems, which he accused the government of ignoring.
http://temposemanaltimor.blogspot.com/2010/09/former-vice-prime-minister-mario.html
It’s worth remembering, that for ten years, he was the Governor of Indonesia’s ’27th Province’, appointed by the Suharto regime, that paragon of clean, transparent and ultra-efficient government -not. So, you can either accuse him of knowing what he’s talking about, or being the pot calling the kettle black.
‘A failed microstate’ – as compared to where, Nauru? While East Timor is a mess, and is hardly in a position to look after Afghans or other boat people, at least it has the space to accomodate (and feed) them, compared to a real ‘microstate’ which looks like a crater of the moon.
[OT and abusive comments edited. Sinc]
Ken
10 Sep 10 at 12:20 am