UN has 'failed to set up democracy' in E. Timor

UN has 'failed to set up democracy' in E. Timor

DILI, East Timor (AP): Opposition leaders in East Timor on
Thursday criticized the United Nations for pursuing a policy of
"overnight decolonization" and not creating the framework for a
democratic society in their fledgling nation.

Fernando de Araujo, who heads the Democratic Party, accused
the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor of siding with
Fretilin, the pro-independence party that won elections last
month for the assembly which will draft the new constitution.

UNTAET has been running the country since 1999, when an
overwhelming majority of East Timorese opted for independence
from Indonesia, which had occupied the former Portuguese colony
in 1975.

Fretilin - the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East
Timor - garnered 57 percent of the vote and secured 55 seats in
the 88-member assembly that will steer the territory to
independence next year.

"We are worried that the United Nations is offering everything
to Fretilin without consulting the other parties that won seats,"
said de Araujo, whose own party came in second with seven seats
in the assembly.

De Araujo's criticism of the world body was echoed by other
party leaders and political analysts. They voiced concerns that
the United Nations would allow Fretilin to dominate the assembly
and draw up a constitution without consulting with all segments
of society.

"The main aim and purpose of UNTAET was not to hold a single
election and then withdraw quickly - it is resembling more and
more an overnight decolonization," said Lucas De Costa, who heads
the Higher Institute for Economics and Management.

"UNTAET is about to leave behind a political culture as
undemocratic as the workings of the United Nations itself," da
Costa said.