UN 'not consulted' over change to East Timor vote
JAKARTA (JP): The United Nations (UN) was "not consulted" on the change of date for a referendum on the future of East Timor already announced by the Indonesian government, a UN spokesman said on Friday (Saturday, Jakarta time) from UN headquarters in New York.
"We were not consulted," spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva told a news briefing on Jakarta's announcement that the ballot would be brought forward by one day, from Aug. 8 to Aug. 7.
The changing of the date of the vote was announced by Minister/ State Secretary Muladi on Friday (Jakarta time).
According to the minister, the change was made based on a request by Catholic church leaders in the predominantly Catholic province because Aug. 8 "is a day off and it's Sunday".
Muladi's announcement did not only stun foreign parties.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas was surprised about the change of the East Timor voting day.
"The government has not yet discussed, nor even set the date (to change)," Alatas was quoted by Kompas as saying here on Saturday.
De Almeida e Silva said that "we continue our work based on the original agreement" signed here by Indonesia and Portugal on May 5, AFP reported.
The ballot, which would be conducted under high-profile direct supervision of UN officials, is aimed at allowing the 800,000 East Timorese to choose either their land to remain a part of Indonesia with wide-ranging autonomy or to be an independent country.
UN officials were clearly taken aback by the announcement, which is being described at its New York headquarters as absurd and irresponsible.
Portugal announced that Lisbon would press Jakarta to revoke its decision to change the date.
Portuguese Foreign Minister Jaime Gama said in Macau the original Aug. 8 date was "fixed by an international agreement signed by Indonesia and international agreements cannot be changed unilaterally."
Dud notes
From Sydney, a Catholic priest just returned from East Timor claimed on Saturday that Indonesian troops in the former Portuguese colony were paying pro-Jakarta militias with counterfeit banknotes.
Father Antonio Alves, who ministers to Sydney's East Timorese community, showed reporters rupiah banknotes bearing the same serial numbers, DPA reported.
He said militia members were receiving the dud currency for their role in fomenting violence ahead of the Aug. 8 vote.
The circulation of fake banknotes is becoming more common in Indonesia, which has been badly hit by an economic crisis and political uncertainties since mid 1997.
Andrew McNaughtan, a campaigner for East Timor independence and the convener of the nongovernment Australia-East Timor Association, said the forgeries were proof that Jakarta had a hand in guiding militiamen responsible for scores of deaths in recent weeks.
"The Indonesians are supposed to have disarmed the militias by now and stopped the violence," McNaughtan told The Australian newspaper.
"Instead they are funding a covert war and either they're unwilling to find the money to pay for it or they have run out of money."
McNaughtan urged the International Monetary Fund, the organizer of a billion-dollar bailout package for Jakarta, to investigate the claims of counterfeiting.
In another related development on Saturday, Japan urged Jakarta to create a more conducive atmosphere in East Timor for the success of the direct ballot, emphasizing that the country's decision to join a UN civilian team would depend much on the security situation there.
"The situation in the former Portuguese colony is not conducive for the direct ballot," Antara quoted Japanese Ambassador Takao Kawakami as saying after meeting with East Timor Governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares in Dili.
Kawakami said his government's decision to send a special team to East Timor would depend much on the report of the 15-member Japanese delegation which recently visited East Timor.
President B.J. Habibie has invited several countries, including the U.S., Germany, Japan and the Philippines to send civilian contingents to supervise the scheduled direct ballot.
The UN Human Rights Commission's Soli Jahangir Sorabjee also conveyed the same concern to Soares during a separate meeting.
The governor, however, told Sorabjee the presence of prointegration militias was not just to defend Indonesia's interest in the vote as the armed groups have been operating there since the province joined Indonesia in 1976.
"The Indonesian government has been entrusted to create a peaceful condition in East Timor. It's our responsibility to the world and to the East Timorese," the governor said in reaction to Sorabjee's call. (prb/bsr)