In an emotion-charged day at the first national congress of the National Council for Timorese Resistance (CNRT), its charismatic leader, Mr Xanana Gusmao, unexpectedly resigned as president and then withdrew his resignation under pressure from the 450 delegates, Conor O'Clery writes from Dili.
Mr Gusmao shocked the congress in the East Timor capital, Dili, by announcing that as the CNRT had done its work in preserving unity since the Indonesian occupation ended last September, new leaders must now emerge. His deputy and fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner, Mr Jose Ramos Horta, also stepped down.
"Now the parties and politicians must take over", Mr Gusmao said. "We need a multiparty system. That is why I leave the CNRT. We can't become complacent or lazy by thinking that one or two people can lead us."
The CNRT leader hinted at internal dissent in the organisation during a lengthy speech. The overwhelming demand for him to stay on has left him in a stronger position as the moral leader and future president of the emerging nation.
"Some people here amongst us would like to put themselves above everyone else," he said. "They are trying to minimise the achievements of others." At another point he asked that "those who feel superior because I have never finished high school" should leave the hall. No one did.
Speaker after speaker, some in tears, and many who related harrowing accounts of their experiences during the burning of East Timor by pro-Indonesian militias last year, begged the two "big brothers" who had led the struggle for independence not to give up their moral responsibility.
All the leaders of the half-dozen emerging political parties in East Timor took the microphone to demand that Mr Gusmao stay on to lead the nation.
The head of the UN Temporary Administration in East Timor, Mr Sergio Vieira de Mello, earlier told the congress that after elections and the adoption of a constitution late next year, East Timor would become independent. Mr Gusmao emphasised that the former Portuguese colony must have a multiparty democracy.
Irish observers expressed surprise that when Mr Gusmao and Mr Horta listed the countries which had helped East Timor in its struggle, Ireland was omitted.