Campaigning in Dili

Nothing like a big presidential campaign to unclog writer’s block. The candidates were all back in town today. The Fretilin rally was at 10am at the raceway in Comorro, the Lasama rally at Democracy field at 2pm and the Horta rally at the Stadium at 2pm. (I understand the Lucia Lobato rally was yesterday.)

There was also a large crowd milling about in front of the World Bank outside Xavier do Amaral’s house (which is next-door to the WB building). All this added up to a bit of traffic carnage today. Getting around by car was a general pain in the neck, with roads blocked to cater for the associated fleets of supporters moving about in convoy.

I ended up traveling down streets I never usually use to try to get about. It provided further evidence that there really are very few campaign posters on display IN Dili. Last weekend, I went for a Sunday drive to Liquica and beyond. It was quite noticeable that houses in the countryside often had candidate posters on front doors, walls and gates. No-one seems to want to show their hand here in Dili. Better to shut up than to give someone an excuse to abuse you over your voting preference.

In the Liquica/Maubara area, the general feel was that Ramos Horta had the most posters followed by Lucia Lobato.

You couldn’t help but notice the racket from the rallies at Democracy field and the stadium. I stuck my nose into both, and despite the frenzied atmosphere at times, I felt fine. There were quite a few “international press” at the rallies, particularly at the stadium. President Xanana Gusmao and his family attended the Ramos Horta rally which was dominated by CNRT flags but there appeared to be Partido Millenium Democratico and Fretilin Mudanca supporters (or just tshirt wearers).

It was a bit of a battle getting home as Fretilin supporters were moving about town all afternoon in convoy. Based on the age cross-section of those in the Fretilin convoy, the age distribution was definitely skewed towards the male 15 to 25 years old bracket. Both the Lasama and Ramos Horta rallies seemed to have a much broader age distribution.

I am told there were a few rock fights during the day and altercations between Fretilin and other supporters including the use of tear gas, but although I heard sounds indicating trouble at a distance, I saw nothing.

8 days to the vote

For once, Dili is not dominating the entire attention of everything here in TL. Election campaigning commenced in earnest on 23 March, with presidential candidates moving about the countryside, and according to campaign schedules, appears to indicate a return to Dili on about 4 April, presumably for a major campaign here.

News reports show that the usual political bagging of opponents occurs here like everywhere else. There are a few claims of breaking election rules and the odd bit of roughing up of opponent’s supporters. But for the moment, this seems to be happening on the countryside campaign trail.

In most respects, Dili is very quiet. The Fatuhada area appears to be the only area where there have been regular security incidents of late. Perhaps the introduction of a permanent police station in Bairo Pite has helped keep Bairo Pite quieter. There seems to be nothing to suggest that one should be particularly concerned about moving about in general.

Campaign supporters are seen at off intervals moving about Dili on open-topped trucks, waving a few flags and doing the odd bit of chanting. It just looks like this is just a bit of a reminder to keep things going until the candidates return to Dili in a few days time.

I have seen Fretilin and Lu’Olu posters in a few places but for the moment, that’s all I have seen and some of these have already been partially removed. Based on the streets, you would hardly know an election is a week away.

According to the campaign schedules, the candidates ought to be back here on Wednesday, giving 4 days of campaigning here.