'Only 5% of E. Timorese understand election'

'Only 5% of E. Timorese understand election'

DILI (AP): Only five percent of East Timorese understand what they will be voting for in the territory's first elections in August, according to a survey released on Tuesday.

"In my view, we don't have enough time to prepare for the elections," said Jose Luis de Oliveira, coordinator of the Working Group on Voter Education, a local organization that assisted with the poll.

East Timor has been under UN administration since 1999, when Indonesian troops ended a 24-year occupation. Elections for an 88-member constituent assembly, which will become the country's first democratic parliament, are scheduled for Aug. 30.

The survey was funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and conducted by the Asia Foundation, a nongovernment group which studies socio-economic issues in Asia, in conjunction the Working Group on Voter Education.

The survey, conducted in March, was based on interviews with 1,558 East Timorese voters. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

The report said that while 75 percent of the population knew of the election, only 30 percent were aware it would be held in August. Almost two-thirds believed they would be voting for a president while only five percent knew they would be electing an assembly to draw up a constitution.

Independence leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao is still widely tipped to become the territory's first president, although he has repeatedly denied that he wants the job.

"The survey gives a very clear indication that the work to be done is enormous if we are to have an informed population to take part in elections," said Tessa Piper, an analyst with the Asia Foundation.

The UN Director of Civic Education, Colin Stewart, admitted the ballot was confusing to East Timorese. But he said he remained confident that it would be possible to inform the voters well ahead of the poll.

Civic education programs had been initiated in the two months since the survey was conducted, and thousands of East Timorese would become involved in the process, he said.