East Timorese go to polling stations across Indonesia

East Timorese go to polling stations across Indonesia

JAKARTA (JP): Thousands of East Timorese living outside the
province thronged to polling stations across the country on
Monday.

Proindependence leader Jose Alexander "Xanana" Gusmao was
among at least 1,622 East Timorese who cast their votes in
Jakarta.

The United Nations Information Center in Central Jakarta was
open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. for voters, who traveled from a number
of cities and provinces to vote in the direct ballot. Voters came
from Salatiga in Central Java, Bandung in West Java, Medan in
North Sumatra, Bangka Island, Palembang in South Sumatra,
Belitung, Riau, Batam and Pontianak in West Kalimantan, among
other places.

National Council for East Timor Resistance president Xanana
was rushed into the building by his entourage.

Serving a 20-year prison sentence, Xanana said in a statement:
"Today, before the international community, we will decide our
destiny, our future, our freedom, our independence. It has not
been easy but we have overcome the difficulties, the suffering
and bloodshed, the grief and the sorrow."

He said the past few days, in which more lives were lost in
East Timor, "were overwhelmingly difficult", adding that
reconciliation with autonomy supporters must follow the vote.

"I order the youths and youth leaders to ... refrain from
provocation and resist the temptation to respond to provocation,"
he said.

A minor scuffle occurred when photographers competed for space
with Timorese youths accompanying Xanana.

A youth leader, Hercules, broke up the scuffle. As the youths
escorted Xanana's car to the exit they shouted proindependence
slogans.

National Commission on Human Rights secretary-general
Clementino Dos Reis Amaral, who is East Timorese, said if the
vote resulted in independence for the province "Indonesia would
the closest neighboring country, so please don't hurt
Indonesian's ... ".

The East Timorese wife of Minister of Information Muhammad
Yunus, Antonia M. Junus, said the voting process "was very
important for us".

In Yogyakarta, the polling station in Among Rogo sports
stadium saw 747 East Timorese cast their ballots, including 18
political prisoners from Kedung Pane Penitentiary in Semarang.

The voting proceeded relatively smoothly, but some voters
complained about a lack of privacy. Unlike in the June general
election, there were no curtains around the cardboard booths used
for the voting.

"The distance between the booth and observers is just a meter
away. Therefore, they could have seen which picture (autonomy or
independence) I punched," Muchlis Mario D.R. from Salatiga said.

Ghozali, who was born in Manufahi, East Timor, said he would
join proautonomy guerrillas if the ballot resulted in East
Timor's independence.

"Xanana may be proud of 23 years of fighting ... but I have
three times his stamina," he said.

Accusations of money politics were exchanged as rival groups
charged each other with giving prospective voters up to Rp
300,000.

Journalists in Yogyakarta and Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi,
were upset with officials from the United Nations Mission in East
Timor (UNAMET) who kept them 200 meters away from the polling
stations.

Officials said this was done to ensure privacy for voters.

In Ujungpandang, leaders of the prointegration Forum for
Unity, Peace and Justice continued to protest what they perceived
as poor promotion of the ballot's registration period in Sulawesi
and Kalimantan.

This led to the failure of 320 East Timorese to participate in
the ballot, Forum representatives said. Otherwise, voting
proceeded smoothly at the Ford Rotterdam fortress, where 258
people cast their ballots.

In Surabaya, some 200 East Timorese who failed to register for
the ballot protested in front of the polling station at Pancasila
stadium.

"We came all the way from Central Kalimantan because the
information on this (ballot) came very late. Officials said
they'd take care of us, but now they're tossing us aside,"
Dominingus da Costa said.

Another protester, Abilio Ximenes Soares, said he and some 130
East Timorese from Central Java who were Muslims were not allowed
to register by UNAMET.

Abilio, whose Muslim name is Syuhada Iskak, said: "I have been
a Muslim for quite some time. Why did the officials ask for a
baptism certificate?"

In Denpasar, Bali, 526 voters completed casting their ballots
at 7:30 p.m. Ballot boxes were taken to the Radisson Hotel and
will be taken to Jakarta on Tuesday. Solemn prayers marked the
end of the ballot here, and those voters remaining at the polling
station embraced one another.

"No matter what the result is... we will remain brothers and
sisters," Jose Manuel de Jesus said.

One of the voters, Albertina Gomez Da Silva, said she hoped
peace would come to East Timor for the sake and well-being of her
mother and eight siblings.

"My father is Joaquim Ribeiro Gomez da Silva, a former
Portuguese soldier. My mother Aquilina Gomez da Silva is a strong
prointegration supporter. They were separated during the civil
war and my mother raised nine children by herself," Albertina
said.

"I am worried about what will happen to my family who insist
on staying in East Timor. My mother wants to lay down to rest
there," she said. (emf/27/50/nur/swa/edt)