Fretilin wins polls, seals majority in legislature
Fretilin wins polls, seals majority in legislature
DILI, East Timor (AP): The party that led East Timor's 24-year struggle for independence from Indonesia has won the fledgling nation's first democratic elections, United Nations officials said on Thursday.
The Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor -- widely known as Fretilin -- garnered 57.37 percent of the votes and secured 55 seats in an 88-member assembly that will write East Timor's first constitution and steer the territory to independence next year, said Carlos Valenzuela, the chief UN electoral officer.
"Emotionally it was a very touching election, as it heals the wounds of 1999 and the effects of the popular consultation. This makes the election a historic success," he said.
He was referring to the campaign of murder, looting and destruction launched by Indonesian forces and their militia proxies after the results of a UN-sponsored referendum on Aug. 30, 1999, were announced. In the plebiscite, four-fifths of the electorate voted to secede from Indonesia, which had ruled East Timor since invading the former Portuguese colony in 1975.
Fretilin's win, which had been widely expected, gives it a clear mandate to form the new administration upon independence. However, the result leaves Fretilin short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass its draft constitution without support from other parties.
Trailing Fretilin was the Democratic Party, with 8.72 percent and seven seats in the legislature. In third place was the Social Democratic Party with 8.18 percent and six seats.
The Timorese Social Democratic Association also won six seats. The conservative Timorese Democratic Union, which fought a brief civil war against Fretilin prior to the Indonesian invasion, garnered only two seats.
"The result reflects the will of the people and everybody is happy. I think it is a good signal that peace is going to be consolidated," said Fretilin leader Mari Alkatiri.
The elections on Aug. 30 were a key step in preparing East Timor for independence after centuries of Portuguese colonial rule, more than two decades of Indonesian occupation, and two years of transitional UN government.
Sergio Vieira de Mello, the world body's chief administrator, congratulated the parties and candidates and described the ballot as a "compelling election process of which many democratic countries could be jealous."
De Mello said the results would be officially certified on Monday. The new assembly, which will formally convene on Sept. 15, will have three months to adopt the new national charter.
The United Nations will gradually turn over the day-to-day running of the administration to a new government headed by a chief minister.
Fretilin, which was established in 1974, played a key role in East Timor's struggle for independence from Indonesia. Leaders of the party had predicted that they would win about 85 percent of the votes cast.