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