Bishop Belo urges Megawati to respect ballot outcome

Bishop Belo urges Megawati to respect ballot outcome

DILI, East Timor (JP): On the second and final day of
Megawati Soekarnoputri's visit to East Timor, Dili Bishop Carlos
Filipe Ximenes Belo urged the front-runner in the presidential
race to respect the result of the direct ballot in East Timor.

"This is the wish of the people," he said after meeting
Megawati and her entourage at his residence on Tuesday morning.

"We hope that Ibu Megawati and her party can respect the
aspirations of the people after the ballot of Aug. 30," he said
in a letter, a copy of which was later made available to the
media.

Megawati has criticized President B.J. Habibie for initiating
the vote, saying it violated a decree of the People's
Consultative Assembly which states that East Timor is part of
Indonesia. Despite her concerns, the chairwoman and presidential
candidate of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan) has pledged to respect the outcome of the ballot.

In another part of his letter Belo drew attention to the need
to take into account the expectations of people from all over the
country should Megawati be elected president.

Belo congratulated Megawati on her party's performance in the
polls, but also wrote: "Our hope is that you and PDI Perjuangan
can return the sovereignty of the people."

He said he also hoped Megawati could work to "seek a political
solution for our brothers and sisters in Aceh and Irian Jaya",
two other provinces where demands for a referendum have been
made.

In her policy speech, Megawati said Habibie's government
should refrain from devising strategic policies and that
referendums should not be repeated in other provinces.

Megawati's entourage included party executive Theo Syafei, the
former military commander of Udayana, whose jurisdiction covered
East Timor. Large crowds in the regencies of Covalima, Bobonaro
and Liquica turned out to greet the PDI Perjuangan entourage.

On Tuesday they toured Baucau, Lospalos and Viqueque before
Megawati addressed a public meeting in Dili. At the meeting held
at a the sports stadium Megawati urged locals to adopt nonviolent
solutions. She also urged people to follow their conscience
before casting their vote in the direct ballot. However,
observers have questioned whether this is possible saying locals
lack the freedom from fear, a prerequisite for the United
Nations-sponsored ballot.

Wiranto

In Jakarta on Tuesday Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Gen.
Wiranto emphasized that TNI would continue to work to prevent
violence, acts of terror and other forms of pressure in the
campaign period form Aug. 14 through Aug. 27.

He told Antara such actions would "stain" the direct ballot,
and would harm the efforts of committed East Timorese who were
seeking a peaceful solution to their future.

"This is why both the proindependence and the prointegration
groups have been asked to comply with the joint agreement to
prevent violence and terror during the campaign period."

On Monday both groups signed a code of conduct for the
campaign, following the end of the registration period on Sunday.
A total of 446,666 people registered, including 422,575 in the
province.

On Tuesday the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET)
met with representatives of the proindependence Falintil militia
in Ermera regency to discuss disarmament plans.

According to an earlier agreement, the disputing sides should
be disarming their supporters.

Also on Tuesday the Australian daily The Age quoted diplomatic
sources as saying that American military officials were
considering the deployment of 15,000 troops to East Timor.

"The U.S. officials made it clear that this contingency would
apply in an extreme circumstance -- quickly stopping large-scale
violence by Indonesia-backed militias," the newspaper said.

Antara reported from Canberra that the report was later denied
by the United States government. The U.S. government "would never
act alone" in the process of the East Timor solution, the report
said, quoting an embassy statement.

Separately it was reported from Ujungpandang, one of the
registration centers outside East Timor, that a prointegration
group had protested the United Nations and the UN's International
Organization for Migration for failing to accommodate the
registration of East Timorese from Sulawesi and Kalimantan.

Alfredo Dos Santos of the Forum for Unity, Peace and Justice,
said the IOM had failed to effectively inform East Timorese
residing in Sulawesi and Kalimantan of the registration schedule.

He said there were many rejections because individuals missed
the Sunday closing date at the registration center at the Benteng
Rotterdam. (anr/33/27)