The Wire

Jose Ramos Horta has shown himself to be quite the task master. Sworn in as East Timor’s new Prime Minister merely three weeks ago, he’s already organised an investigation into the public service focussing on the embezzlement and theft that occured during the recent unrest, he’s negotiated a weapons amnesty with the East Timorese police force and applied for membership as part of the Association of South East Asian Nations, or ASEAN. Some analysts in Australia have criticised the new Prime Minister for his pro-western stance, but Damien Kingsbury from Deakin University in Melbourne believes the new Prime Minister won’t be letting the interests of Australia or the US get in the way of East Timor’s future.