In brief
In response to public protests, Timor-Leste's government has scrapped a plan to furnish members of parliament with new cars. Protests escalated in the capital city Dili, with demonstrators expressing broader discontent over lawmakers' privileges, including demands for the eradication of lifetime pensions for retired officials. As protests gain traction, tensions continue to rise amid ongoing concern regarding governmental accountability and economic disparity.
Timor-Leste has scrapped a plan to give its lawmakers free cars after thousands of people took to the streets to protest against it.
On Tuesday, demonstrators burned tyres and set a government vehicle alight, while police responded with tear gas - hours later, the government bowed to public pressure and dropped the plan.
Despite this, many returned to the streets, with one protester telling the BBC that they estimated a turnout of around 2,000 demonstrators in the capital Dili on Wednesday.
Though the protests were initially triggered by the cars, they have now expanded to cover calls to remove lifetime pensions for retired lawmakers.
The unrest comes as governments across Asia, from Nepal to Indonesia, have been rocked by angry young protesters taking aim at the perceived excesses of lawmakers.
One student who has chosen not to be identified told the BBC that she was hit by tear gas while she was in front of her university campus.
She says she is angry at the lawmakers for '[wanting] to buy luxury cars for work while their people are still suffering'.
Lawmakers in Timor-Leste have an annual basic salary of $36,000 (£26,377) as of 2023, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
That's more than 10 times the country's average income, which a government report in 2021 estimated to be around $3,000.
The plan to buy lawmakers cars is not a new one - and there have been regular demonstrations against free cars provided to lawmakers since the 2000s, according to Cezario Cesar, a key figure leading the protests.
But it's only now that the movement has really taken off - as the country continues to grapple with high inequality and unemployment.
Parliamentarians voted unanimously on Tuesday to scrap the plan to buy new Toyota Prado SUVs for each of the country's 65 MPs.
However, the protests continued on Wednesday, with some sceptical about the policy U-turn. Demonstrators are also seeking to reform a law that promises former MPs lifetime pensions.
