Local Administration in Democratic Timor-Leste: A View from Vemasse

• In Event: 130. The Transformation of Religion, Culture and Society in Timor-Leste. Sponsored by the AAS Southeast Asia Council (SEAC)

Abstract

This paper examines the evolving interaction between modern local government and traditional authorities in Timor-Leste. It surveys the changing operation of Suco councils (known formally as ‘community authorities’) from the perspective of those elected to Chefe de Suco (Village Chief) and Chefe de Aldeia (Hamlet Chief) positions. Building on earlier published findings (Cummins and Leach 2012), this paper documents a return to the same fieldwork sites in 2014, six years after initial fieldwork in 2008. It examines the changing perspective of two elected Chefes in Vemasse sub-district, and their views on the operation of Suco councils, the electoral system, relations with political parties, and their impressions of the evolving relationship between modern local government, and traditional authorities. It concludes with some specific recommendations from the respondent Chefes themselves for reforms to local administration in Timor-Leste.

Author

• Michael Leach, Swinburne University of Technology