June 28, 2000
Link to UN Press Release SC/6882
The top U.N. official in East Timor predicted Tuesday that elections in the former Indonesian territory -- and possibly independence -- will take place late next year, a timetable endorsed by the United States.
The elections will be for a constituent assembly that is to consider a draft constitution, so independence is not expected to follow immediately on the heels of voting, Sergio Vieira de Mello told the U.N. Security Council in New York.
Following discussions with East Timor's independence leader Jose Alexandre Gusmao, he said, "I feel safe in predicting ... that elections and possibly independence will take place next year at some point between Aug. 30 and December of the year 2001."
The United Nations took over responsibility for running East Timor during its transition to independence after the East Timorese voted overwhelmingly last Aug. 30 to break free from Indonesia's rule, sparking a rampage by anti-independence militias. Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975, after Portugal hastily pulled out its 400-year-old colonial administration.
U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, "in the strongest possible terms," supported the election and independence timetable, assuming the United Nations backs it. "This would be a historic event, a signal achievement for the United Nations and for the world community," Holbrooke said.
Vieira de Mello said the final decision on dates for the election and independence will largely depend on how fast progress is being made in attaining key benchmarks, including: ensuring security, returning refugees, alleviating poverty, establishing a credible judiciary, restoring public services, and establishing a financially viable administration run by East Timorese.
East Timorese will shortly take charge of the portfolios for internal administration, infrastructure, economic affairs and social affairs and "for the first time ever, enjoy political responsibility for their decisions," Vieira de Mello said.
A new all-Timorese National Legislative Council will also be established next month, with representatives selected from constituencies, parties and other groups. "It will render the transition to independence less sudden and help the concept of governmental responsibility assert itself in East Timor," he said.
Holbrooke and other U.N. ambassadors expressed dissatisfaction with continued cross-border incidents by militias based in West Timor, which remains part of Indonesia, and at the slow pace of the return of refugees.
Despite the incidents, Vieira de Mello reported that the security situation is stabilizing, prompting Holbrooke to press for a timetable for reducing the size of the 12,370-strong U.N. mission. Vieira de Mello said he will be submitting a plan to cut the U.N. mission, known as UNTAET, by 1,405 people between now and April.
