The Provisional Government of East Timor (PGET), ( id, Pemerintah Sementara Timor Timur (PSTT), pt, Governo Provisório de Timor Leste), was an

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

n supported

puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods ...

provisional government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or f ...

in present day

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-weste ...

that was formed on 17 December 1975 following the

Indonesian invasion of East Timor The Indonesian invasion of East Timor, known in Indonesia as Operation Lotus ( id, Operasi Seroja), began on 7 December 1975 when the Indonesian National Armed Forces, Indonesian military (ABRI/TNI) invaded East Timor under the pretext of anti-c ...

and disbanded on 17 July 1976 when the region was annexed by Indonesia as the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

Timor Timur Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western part. The Indonesian part, also ...

History

Decolonisation and unilateral declaration of independence

East Timor was colonised by

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

in the mid-16th century and administered as

Portuguese Timor Portuguese Timor ( pt, Timor Português) was a colonial possession of Portugal that existed between 1702 and 1975. During most of this period, Portugal shared the island of Timor with the Dutch East Indies. The first Europeans to arrive in the ...

. After the 1974

Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lisbo ...

in Portugal, a decolonisation process was initiated which was to have led to the formation of an elected Constituent Assembly in 1976. Three new parties emerged at this time; the

Timorese Democratic Union The Timorese Democratic Union ( pt, União Democrática Timorense, UDT) is a conservative political party in East Timor. It was the first party to be established in the country on May 11, 1974, following the Carnation Revolution in Portugal. ...

which advocated continued association with Portugal,

Fretilin The Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor ( pt, Frente Revolucionária de Timor-Leste Independente, abbreviated as Fretilin) is a centre-left political party in East Timor. They presently hold 23 of 65 seats in the National Parliame ...

which supported independence and

Apodeti The Timorese Popular Democratic Association ( pt, Associação Popular Democrática Timorense, APODETI; id, Asosiasi Demokratik Rakyat Timor) was a political party in East Timor established in 1974, which advocated for integration into Indonesia. ...

who supported integration into

. In local elections held on 13 March 1975, Fretilin and UDT emerged as the largest parties, having previously formed an alliance to campaign for independence. On 28 November 1975, Fretilin made a

unilateral declaration of independence A unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) is a formal process leading to the establishment of a new state by a subnational entity which declares itself independent and sovereign without a formal agreement with the state which it is secedi ...

of the

Democratic Republic of East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-wester ...

in an act not recognised by either Portugal or Indonesia.

Indonesian invasion and annexation

On 30 November 1979, In response to the unilateral declaration of Independence Indonesia encouraged leaders of the UDT, Apodeti, and other smaller parties to sign the

Balibo Balibo is a town in East Timor situated approximately from the Indonesian border. It is located in the subdistrict of Balibo, Bobonaro District. It was estimated by Human Rights Watch that 70 per cent of the town was destroyed during th ...

Declaration calling for integration of East Timor into Indonesia. On the morning of 7 December 1975, Indonesian forces launched a massive air and sea invasion of East Timor, known as ''

Operasi Seroja The Indonesian invasion of East Timor, known in Indonesia as Operation Lotus ( id, Operasi Seroja), began on 7 December 1975 when the Indonesian military (ABRI/TNI) invaded East Timor under the pretext of anti-colonialism and anti-communism to o ...

'' (Operation Lotus) capturing

Dili Dili (Portuguese/Tetum: ''Díli'') is the capital, largest city of East Timor and the second largest city in Timor islands after Kupang (Indonesia). It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed in ...

later that afternoon. On 17 December an Indonesian supported Provisional Government of East Timor was formed with by Arnaldo dos Reis Araújo of Apodeti as Chief Executive and Lopez da Cruz of the UDT as Deputy Chief Executive. On 31 May 1976 a Popular Representative Assembly was established which subsequently adopted a resolution calling for the formal integration of East Timor into Indonesia, which the Indonesian Government described as "an act of self-determination" for East Timor. On 17 July 1976, Indonesia through Presidential Decree RI No. 113 of 1976
Law no. 7 of 1976
and MPR Decree No. VI/MPR/1978, formally annexed East Timor as the province of

with PGET President Arnaldo dos Reis Araújo becoming its first governor.

Balibo Declaration and Petition for Integration

Balibo Declaration

The "Balibo Declararion" was sihned by representatives of

, UDT, KOTA and the Trabalhista Party on 30 November 1975. ;Indonesian ;English translation

Petition for integration

The Provisional Government of East Timor made the following petition for the region to join Indonesia on 31 May 1976:

Structure

Leadership

;Chief Executive of the Provisional Government of East Timor ;Deputy Chief Executive of the Provisional Government of East Timor

Popular Representative Assembly

The Popular Representative Assembly of East Timor was formed on 31 May 1976 by Act Number 1/1976 of the Provisional Government of East Timor. The Assembly had 50 members included representatives of a Deliberative Council formed at the same time as the PGET and two members from each of the 13 municipalities of East Timor. Indonesia claimed the members included representatives and leaders from all walks of East Timorese life including prominent citizens, tribal chiefs religious leaders and municipal representatives. The chairman of the assembly was Guilherme Gonçalves.

Municipal popular assemblies

Each municipality in East Timor had a popular assembly of between 15 and 20 members.

International relations

The Provisional Government of East Timor maintained a liaison office in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

. The office was led by

Mário Viegas Carrascalão Mário Viegas Carrascalão (May 12, 1937 – May 19, 2017) was an East Timorese politician and diplomat. Carrascalão, a founder of the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT) in 1974 and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 2000, served as the governor ...

References

{{East Timor topics Government of East Timor History of East Timor History of Timor