East Timor police clash with protesters over plan to buy vehicles for MPs

Students from several universities run from tear gas fired by police during their protest against the parliament’s plan to purchase 65 SUVs for lawmakers at the National University of East Timor (UNTL) in Dili. (AFP)

• The over 2,000 protesters, mostly university students from the capital, gathered near the National Parliament to oppose a plan to procure Toyota Prado SUVs for each of the 65 members of parliament
• Protesters have vowed to continue their rallies until the plan is formally scrapped

DILI: East Timor police on Tuesday clashed for a second day with protesters angry over a plan to buy SUVs for lawmakers in one of southeast Asia’s poorest nations, whose leader issued a rebuke over the violence.
Demonstrators in the capital Dili burned tires, a government vehicle near the parliament building and hurled rocks toward the officers, who responded with tear gas.
The over 2,000 protesters — mostly university students from the capital — gathered near the National Parliament to oppose a plan to procure Toyota Prado SUVs for each of the 65 members of parliament.
It followed a similar protest on Monday, which prompted several political parties to announce they would ask parliament to cancel the plan.
Those same parties had previously approved the 2025 budget that included the funding for the vehicles.
Protesters have vowed to continue their rallies until the plan is formally scrapped.
“We want the decision to purchase the car to be canceled. This decision needs to be taken by the president of the National parliament,” activist Domingos de Andrade, 34, told reporters Tuesday.
Protesters carried a banner urging authorities to “Stop thieves.”
East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta told reporters Tuesday that there would be “no tolerance” of violence during the demonstrations.
“You can hold demonstrations to protest the government, parliament when they do wrong, but you must not resort to violence,” Ramos-Horta added.
In a joint statement on Monday, the National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction, the Democratic Party and the Enrich the National Unity of the Sons of Timor said the vehicles for lawmakers “did not reflect public interests” and pledged they would ask parliament to walk back on the plan.
East Timor, Southeast Asia’s youngest country, gained independence from Indonesia in 2002. The former Portuguese colony grapples with high inequality, malnutrition and unemployment, with an economy heavily reliant on oil.
Deadly riots erupted in neighboring Indonesia last month after a video of a police vehicle running over a motorcyclist ignited public anger over lawmakers’ lavish perks, low wages and unemployment.