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)