East Timorese ignore vote boycott call
JAKARTA (JP): Morning drizzle and the absence of prominent Catholic leader Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo did not stop people in Dili, East Timor, from going to the polls on Monday.
Antara reported that East Timorese queued at polling places in Motael, Pantai Kelapa and Pantai Farol, Taman Balai Prajurit auditorium, Mascarenhas, Matadouro and the University of East Timor campus to cast their votes.
But in Baucau, some 130 kilometers east of Dili, heavy rain delayed the balloting in 94 polling places across the town for a few hours.
A local election committee member, Domingus de Haan, said balloting was impossible because the rain swamped the modest polling booths, which were covered only by coconut leaves.
De Haan said he knew of no reports of disruption except a move by a group of youths who tried to attack two polling places in Caisidu II and Bahu villages.
Chairman of the provincial election committee Gaspar Sarmento said people's enthusiasm to participate in this year's elections was evident, despite leaflets circulated by some groups to discourage them.
The provincial capital was quiet, with only a few cars and motorcycles seen passing major streets in the town. Many traders in main markets Old Mercado, Comoro and Becora took a day off for the elections.
Belo did not show up at the polling station near his residence, to the disappointment of people who flocked there to meet him. But Belo told dozens of people to exercise their right to vote.
Spokesman for East Timor Police Capt. Widodo DS confirmed that leaflets suggesting that people not vote were found across the capital.
Widodo said police arrested on Sunday a man, identified as AC, while placing a leaflet exhorting East Timorese to boycott Monday's elections.
The pamphlets, using the indigenous language of Tetun, were found in Vila Verde subdistrict in West Dili. In a statement signed by local leader David Ximenes, independence group CNRT called for a boycott of the polls, saying they should focus on the direct ballot on Aug. 8 to decide whether to remain part of Indonesia with wider autonomy.
CNRT is led by Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao, who is serving a prison sentence at a special house in Jakarta.
Governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares said the move to discourage East Timorese to vote was not new.
"They (CNRT) used to do it in the past elections. They are just an irresponsible group who want to cause prolonged trouble in East Timor," Abilio said after casting his ballot at the Pantai Kelapa polling station.
Preliminary results of the polls in Dili showed that the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle won in Santa Cruz, Bairoformosa, Leiodere, Akadiruhun, Becora, West Lahane and Bedois villages.
Reports of violations were announced by the deputy chairman of the provincial election committee, Aderito Hugo da Costa, who said people in three districts in Kovalima regency had been intimidated to get them to vote for the ruling Golkar party. (33/amd)