Global Policy Forum

By Christine T.

Timorese are expected later this month to begin preparations for a constituent assembly election likely to be held around Aug. 30, the first major political exercise in the post-Indonesian rule of the territory, a senior U.N. official said Tuesday.

Anne-Margrete Wachtmeister, director of the Office for Communication and Public Information of the U.N. Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), said pro-Indonesia supporters in the territory will be allowed to vote.

On Jan. 26, UNTAET chief Sergio Vieira de Mello told the U.N. Security Council that East Timor is likely to hold elections for the constituent assembly on Aug. 30 this year.

But in what he described as his last official briefing to the Security Council as the UNTAET head, de Mello said a final decision on the date would be made after the Timorese National Council, East Timor's provisional legislature, meets Feb. 12.

In a meeting with journalists, Wachtmeister said, 'People who are pro-Indonesia will certainly be allowed' to vote.

Wachtmeister later told Kyodo News that East Timorese residents holding Indonesian citizenship and Indonesians are also eligible to vote as long as they live in East Timor and have 'strong connections' with the territory.

'If they were born in East Timor or got married with East Timorese or Indonesians, they are eligible to vote,' she said.

Members of the newly formed East Timor National Defense Force and National Police will also be able to vote. But they will not be allowed to run for the constituent assembly, she said.

Wachtmeister said the first step will be holding a pilot civic registration, expected to take place Feb. 19 on the East Timor island of Atauru, north of the East Timor capital Dili.

She said there is a program that will urge East Timorese and everyone 16 years old or older to register.

Wachtmeister said a list of possible candidates for the elections will also be completed, adding that only 'people who are 18 years old or older and born in East Timor' are eligible.

All registration procedures will take place in East Timor.

She urged would-be voters to elect candidates individually and not along party lines, adding candidate lists will be posted to enable complaints against them to be properly investigated.

A final list will be issued after a panel investigates any complaints, she said.

As to the nature of the constituent assembly, Wachtmeister said its composition and details of the general election will be decided during a meeting Feb. 16.

She said the proposal 'most likely' to be adopted is the use of a system similar to Germany's, she said.

The system for East Timor will likely combine proportional representation, in which candidates who get the highest number of votes are elected, and district representation, in which 11 districts across East Timor must have a certain number of representatives.

The elected assembly will later decide whether it will elect a president or opt to have a separate election to elect the president directly.

It will also be up to the assembly to decide the territory's national language and other issues related to national rebuilding.

Jose Ramos Horta, an East Timorese leader, said in January a conference should be held by May to draft a Constitution.

The constituent assembly will eventually be converted into a National Legislative Assembly.