House legislators to visit East Timor

House legislators to visit East Timor

JAKARTA: A group of House of Representatives members plan to
visit East Timor in a move to improve ties between lawmakers of
the two neighboring countries.

The Indonesian legislators will share their experiences in the
legislation process with their East Timorese counterparts.

The deputy chairman of the House's inter-parliamentary
cooperation team, Prasetya, reported the plan to House Speaker
Akbar Tandjung on Thursday.

East Timor, the former 27th province of Indonesia, seceded
from Indonesia after a UN-sponsored ballot resulted in an
overwhelming vote for independence in 1999.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri has asked for input from the
legislators to upgrade Indonesia's Interest Section Office in
Dili into an embassy, but the lawmakers have not responded.

Several weeks ago the President named an intelligence officer
to the ambassadorial post in Dili, but his placement is awaiting
the House's response to the appointment. -- JP