R 150852Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY DILI
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 4456
INFO ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
AMEMBASSY LISBON 
AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 
AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 
NSC WASHINGTON DC
SECDEF WASHDC
DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
AMEMBASSY DILI

UNCLAS DILI 000173 
 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MTS AND H 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL EPET EFIN PHUM TT
SUBJECT: HOUSE DEMOCRACY ASSISTANCE COMMISSION VISITS DILI 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  Six U.S. Congressmen led a delegation from the 
House Democracy Assistance Commission (HDAC) on a visit to 
Timor-Leste July 2-4.  HDAC members and staffers engaged with 
Timorese leaders, held a day-long training session at the 
National Parliament, and visited a rural district.  Timorese 
officials underscored the continued fragility of Timor's 
governing institutions, particularly the legislature, and 
expressed continued appreciation for HDAC's assistance.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
 
PRESIDENT RAMOS-HORTA TOUTS PETROLEUM FUND, ASKS FOR RETURN OF 
PEACE CORPS 
 
¶2.  President Ramos-Horta thanked the delegation for visiting 
Dili and praised the United States Congress for its long-term 
support to Timor-Leste, dating back to Senator Harkin's draft 
resolution rebuking the Indonesian occupation in 1975. 
Congressman Price congratulated President Ramos-Horta on his 
recovery from the 2008 assassination attempt and thanked him for 
his personal leadership and commitment to democracy.  He noted 
that Timor-Leste is one of the most enthusiastic HDAC partners 
and pledged continued engagement between the Commission and the 
National Parliament. 
 
¶3.  Several Members inquired about the use and sustainability of 
the government's special petroleum fund as a vehicle for 
development in Timor-Leste.  President Ramos-Horta boasted that 
the fund was rated as one of the best managed in the world by 
Freedom House and would be used to support the government's 
investment priorities: infrastructure, education and health. 
However, Bayu Undan is the only site currently under production 
and Timor-Leste is negotiating the terms of the unexploited 
Greater Sunrise natural gas field between Timor and Australia. 
Ramos-Horta acknowledged disagreement with Australia over 
whether to send the Sunrise pipeline to existing facilities in 
Darwin, Australia or to the underdeveloped southern Timor-Leste 
coast.  President Ramos-Horta argued forcefully that directing 
the pipeline to Timor-Leste would create desperately needed 
jobs, spur economic growth in southern Timor-Leste, and still be 
profitable for all parties involved. 
 
¶4.  Congressman McDermott asked if President Ramos-Horta if he 
had considered a possible return of the Peace Corps and whether 
English Language training might be a part of their mandate. 
Ambassador confirmed that Timorese formally requested the return 
of the Peace Corps earlier this year.  Ramos-Horta 
enthusiastically added that he would be happy if "the Peace 
Corps did nothing more than English Language training in 
Timor-Leste."  Congressman Price reported that the House had 
recently authorized a major expansion of the Peace Corps. 
 
OPPOSITION DECRIES GOVERNMENT'S APPROACH BUT DOWNPLAYS POLICY 
DIFFERENCES 
 
¶5.  Dr. Mari Alkatiri, former Prime Minister and 
Secretary-General of the opposition Fretelin party, criticized 
the lack of inclusiveness of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao's 
government and characterized President Ramos-Horta's main role 
as being "the opposition to the opposition."  Alkatiri again 
questioned the constitutionality of the government, adding that 
the government's corruption was further undermining its 
legitimacy.  Fretelin was a constructive opposition, Alkatiri 
argued, because it rejected violence and was willing to 
challenge government actions in court.  Alkatiri emphasized 
Fretelin's agreement with many of the government's foreign 
policies, however, including pursuing ASEAN membership in the 
medium-term, the need to maintain good relations with Indonesia 
and Australia while also resolving outstanding territorial 
issues, and the desire to phase down the UN presence by 2012. 
 
UN: INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT KEY TO SUPPORTING DEMOCRACY 
 
¶6.  Special Representative of the UN Secretary General Atul 
Khare and his team briefed the delegation on UN activities in 
Timor-Leste.  Khare admitted that before 2006 the UN had 
primarily been focused on maintaining stability, but had 
broadened its efforts over the last two years to include 
developing institutional capacity - a key to supporting 
democracy in Timor-Leste.  Khare pointed to the "smooth" 
transition to a second democratically-elected president as a key 
indicator of success, but that less attention has been spent on 
what to do between elections.  In response to questions posed by 
the congressmen, Khare noted that the goal now is to develop 
capacity so that elected institutions can deliver public goods 
and conduct the next elections without international assistance. 
 Khare emphasized, however, that he sees a need for a UN 
presence until the 2012 elections, albeit with appropriate 
reductions in the cost and scope of the mission each year. 
During that period the UN will gradually hand over 
responsibilities to local institutions while maintaining a 
presence to "observe" performance, something Khare likened to 
giving a novice driver a driver's permit while riding with them 
in the vehicle. 
 
LEGISLATOR-TO-LEGISLATOR ENGAGEMENT AT PARLIAMENTARY SESSION 
 
¶7.  The delegation was invited to speak at a plenary ceremony of 
the National Parliament and meet with parliamentary committees 
on July 3.  The visit to the parliament began with a brief tour 
of the Parliamentary Library which had been established with 
financial and technical assistance from HDAC.  Following the 
tour, President (i.e., Speaker) of the National Parliament 
Lasama welcomed and introduced the delegation, each congressman 
spoke briefly, the representatives of each of the political 
parties represented in parliament made brief statements, and the 
delegation and Timor-Leste parliamentarians exchanged views on 
the roles of the legislature.  In the afternoon, each 
congressman spent time with separate parliamentary committees 
and engaged in more detailed discussions with individual 
parliamentarians about the challenges facing the Timor-Leste 
parliament, including parliamentary oversight responsibilities 
in the areas of anti-corruption and infrastructure development. 
Two final concurrent sessions brought together local 
parliamentarians with delegation members to discuss budget 
analysis and security sector oversight. 
 
PROVINCIAL TRIP HIGHLIGHTS U.S.-SUPPORTED COFFEE PROGRAM 
 
¶8.  In the rural district of Maubisse, the delegation was feted 
with a traditional welcome ceremony and toured the Timor-Leste 
Coffee Cooperative (CCT).  CCT was initiated with USAID funding 
in 1994, has been self-sufficient since 2005 and now supports 
over 23,000 families throughout the country with 12 million USD 
in annual sales last year.  The congressmen were impressed with 
the success of the project and wondered if it might be 
replicated elsewhere as a model of economic growth.  In the 
afternoon, the delegation participated in a joint town hall 
meeting with Members of Parliament and fielded questions from 
traditional community leaders. 
 
STAFF PROGRAM FOCUSES ON RESEARCH CAPACITY 
 
¶9.  Congressional staffers, researchers from the Congressional 
Research Service (CRS), and librarians from the Library of 
Congress (LOC) participated in a separate schedule during the 
delegation's visit to Timor-Leste.  The staffers and researchers 
held meetings with the Chief of Staff for the Speaker of 
Parliament, the Director of the Parliamentary Research Center, 
and the representative from the Asia Foundation, which is 
currently managing the USAID-funded project to build 
Parliamentary capacity through the research center.  The topics 
discussed included the status of the Parliament's modernization 
efforts, the scope of the HDAC program to create a functioning 
research service, and the level of training and research for 
Parliamentary staffers.  The librarians and researchers also 
conducted training sessions with researchers and librarians from 
the Parliament Research Center on information research services, 
library services, and legislative analysis.  Research staffers 
even came in on a Saturday to take advantage of the CRS and LOC 
expertise provided.  The staffers also met with former Prime 
Minister and current Member of Parliament Estanislau da Silva 
who explained the importance of the research center for 
Parliamentary development and the desire to obtain training for 
the Members of Parliament who sparingly use the center. 
Congressional staffers from the Rules Committee also held a side 
session with the President of Timor's Internal Rules Commission 
at the request of Parliament to explain the importance of 
internal rules for the proper functioning of a legislative body. 
 
¶10.  The HDAC delegation consisted of Chairman David Price, Rep. 
Jim McDermott, Rep. Jim Cooper, Rep. Bob Etheridge, Rep. Vern 
Buchanan, and Rep. Phil Gingrey.  HDAC approved this message. 
 
 
KLEMM