DILI - To all intents and purposes he is East Timor's prime minister-in-waiting, but Jose Ramos-Horta still insists he doesn't want the job.
Five days after the resignation of Mari Alkatiri, however, Asia's newest nation is still without a premier and few on this sleepy tropical island believe it will be anyone other than Ramos-Horta.
He has excellent credentials.
Fluent in Tetum, Portuguese, Spanish, French and English, the 56-year-old spent much of his life abroad, lurking on the doorsteps of Western leaders to highlight East Timor's plight during its often brutal occupation by Indonesia.
A Nobel Peace Prize, which he shared with fellow Timorese Bishop Carlos Belo in 1996, also looks good on the curriculum vitae.
"I would hope that within a week we can reach a consensus on a new prime minister," he told Reuters in an interview on Saturday. "The time has come for us to move forward from this political crisis."
East Timor was plunged into chaos around two months ago when Alkatiri, prime minister by virtue of his Fretilin party's 55 seats in the 88 member parliament, sacked almost half the army after they protested against discrimination.
When feuding branches of the armed forces clashed and then violence spiralled into an orgy of arson and looting, an international peacekeeping force had to be called in.
Alkatiri was blamed for mishandling the affair, but his fate was sealed by a damaging Australian TV documentary that linked him and other Fretilin leaders with a plot to arm civilians.
President Xanana Gusmao, a widely popular liberation hero, threatened to resign himself unless Alkatiri quit. It was a popularity contest he knew he couldn't lose.
Although as the majority party Fretilin has the right to nominate the next prime minister, Gusmao is known to be seeking an independent unity candidate to rule until elections next year.
Step forward Ramos-Horta.
"I have been approached by Fretilin leaders about this possibility of accepting the job of prime minister," he said.
Carry The Burden
"If they all feel that I am the one that should carry the burden between now and the next election, I would accept. The only problem is that I would hope I would not fail their expectations."
But he insisted the country was functioning normally and that with pro- and anti-Alkatiri protests in the capital now over, life would return to normal soon.
"If I am prime minister, obviously there is a lot to do in order to recreate a peaceful climate and to provide a government and services that the Timorese people deserve," he said.
"There are certain steps I would take - chiefly looking at the issue of unemployment, of housing - that I believe can tackle some of these issues."
With virtually no economy and unemployment at over 70 percent in this population of just one million people, few believe that will be an easy task. "But we have the money," Ramos-Horta said, referring to hundreds of millions of dollars the country has already earned through oil and gas exploration rights in the Timor Sea.
Although untapped, the potential reserves could turn Southeast Asia's poorest country into one of its richest within a generation.
Ramos-Horta said if appointed, he would also try to do more to encourage small, private business by providing a more secure investment environment.
"People have taken risks and have stayed. They need our protection and incentives to stay."
Scores of businesses and homes were destroyed by fire in the capital as a simmering east-west divide bubbled over, but Ramos-Horta said he was confident a full independent investigation would get to the bottom of the crisis and help heal wounds.
"We have to work with the church and civil society organisations to bring the dialogue to grassroots," he said.
Asked directly about Timor's crisis and if he would be the next premier, Ramos-Horta smiled and drew on all his diplomatic skills to deflect a direct answer.
"I am saddened and heartbroken by what has happened, and the worst thing is that it has been entirely avoidable," he said.
"But I am ready to serve if need be."
