Nobel Laureate Jose Ramos-Horta is scheduled to be inaugurated as East Timor's Prime Minister today. While his appointment may ease nerves -- both at home and abroad -- about the country's immediate prospects, it is not a cure-all. For one man, no matter how talented, does not a government, nor nation, make.

Mr. Ramos-Horta's first challenge, along with President Xanana Gusmao, will be to restore domestic order and lay the foundations for a clean election. Both will require the support of the ruling Fretilin Party, which dominates Dili's politics, and former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri.

That may be difficult. Mr. Ramos-Horta isn't a member of Fretilin, and many within the party may still support Mr. Alkatiri. Encouragingly, the new Prime Minister will have the services of two deputies, one of whom -- Rui Araujo -- is also a political independent.

But East Timor needs more than a few good men. It needs an entire cadre of them, at every level of government. If Mr. Ramos-Horta and his team can quell the violence, the next priority should be to get people out of temporary shelters and back to work. There's an awful lot of it to do.

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