About a hundred and a half young people gathered this Monday in protest in front of the Timorese National Parliament, against what they say are “elite” policies, which ignore the needs of the majority of the population.
Organized by the National Maubere Alliance (AMN), the protest will be held every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for two monthsas explained to Lusa Miguel Monsil, spokesman for the youth movement.
“We represent young people and smaller people who do not consider themselves represented by the deputies. The political elite enjoy good salaries, rights and benefits, and a lifelong pension. And then they spend a lot of money buying new cars,” Monsil explained.
“But on the other hand, much of the population lives in poverty. Many workers are wage slaves, receiving $115 [115,8 euros] a month, street vendors have no space and the agricultural sector has no support and we continue to import most of what we eat,” he said.
The protest occurs at the moment in which the debate on the General State Budget Bill for 2023 began in plenary.
With slogans in defense of Timor-Leste and criticism of what they called “treasonous deputies”youth gathered on the sidewalk in front of the main entrance of the Timor Lorosa’e National University, across the street from the entrance to the National Parliament.
They brandished banners accusing deputies of neo-colonialist policies and considering that they do not represent the interests of the people, the protesters are symbolically challenging Parliament’s decision to buy new cars and laptops for deputies.
“We launched this action with the aim of politically pressuring parliament so that they do not transform the budget into a budget of private interests and invest in sectors of great importance to the country, such as education, health, water and agriculture,” he stressed. Miguel Monsil.
The spokesman said that many teachers are left without a contract, that the economy is not advancing, that young people are forced to emigrate and that parliament “is a business of private interests” that “is not in favor of the people.”
And he justified with wrong policies and inadequate investment in the education sector the fact that in recent months conflicts between young people have increased in various neighborhoods of Dili and in other parts of the country, in many cases linked to martial arts groups.
“These conflicts are the logical consequence of the the elite does not pay adequate attention to education. One of the factors in the conflicts has to do with the character of the young people, which is not helped by education, but also by the lack of work,” said Monsil.
The protest took place under the observation of a small group of policemen who forced the young people to limit their action to the sidewalk.
Source: Observadora
