HYBRID GOVERNANCE Hybrid governance and democratisation— village governance in Timor-Leste

In 2004, the Government of Timor-Leste introduced elections to villages (suku). Timor-Leste had only been formally independent since 20021, after some centuries of colonisation by Portugal (variable in the timing and degree of penetration), almost twenty-five years of more systematic occupation by Indonesia (1975–99), and two years of centralised transitional administration by the United Nations. Elections, political parties and party political competition characterised the new space of the national arena since the withdrawal of the Indonesian military. An extension of elections to the village represented for law-makers and opinion-makers an opportunity to more fully introduce the country to internationally recognised democratic processes.2 Village elections were held progressively around the country over 2004 and 2005.