UN team launches information compaign in E. Timor
UN team launches information compaign in E. Timor
JAKARTA (JP): The UN Assistance Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) launched an information page in a local daily on Saturday as part of its efforts to inform East Timorese about the options available in the Aug. 8 ballot on self-determination.
Written in Indonesian, English, Portuguese and the native Tetum dialect, the circular will be published on the back page of Suara Timor Timur (Voice of East Timor) until voting day, AFP reported from Dili.
"Welcome to meeting us on the UNAMET page," said a headline in the first edition. Through the page, the UN mission "will explain what UNAMET is here to do".
Consisting only of text, the page also will provide information on Indonesia's offer of wide-ranging autonomy or an independent state.
Indonesia and Portugal, East Timor's formal colonizer, agreed on the autonomy package at the United Nations in New York on May 5.
It included a ballot, termed a "consultation", in East Timor on whether people wanted autonomy under Indonesia or favored independence.
Another headline in the first edition declared "UNAMET does not take sides."
In the accompanying article, UNAMET underlined its impartial role in East Timor to ensure a successful and fair campaign starting July 20 and to guarantee a free and secret ballot.
UNAMET chief Ian Martin reminded Indonesian officials that they were not allowed to take part in the campaign and that state facilities should not be used.
A front-page article said that publication of the page was through cooperation of the daily and UNAMET.
It said it will attempt to inform the population about the special autonomy package, the process and procedures for the registration of voters and for voting.
The page also will "explain the consequences of accepting or rejecting the autonomy proposal".
Locals enthusiastically welcomed the information page, with men and women reading it alone or in groups on the city's commercial streets.
The state Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI) will on Sunday begin broadcasting a similar information program, UNAMET spokesman David Wimhurst said.
Crucial
In New York, the UN Security Council on Friday formally established UNAMET, thereby allowing police and military advisers to help organize what is dubbed a crucial vote for the province's future, Reuters reported.
In a resolution adopted unanimously, the council invested UNAMET with authority until Aug. 31 to organize a "direct, secret and universal ballot" for about 400,000 East Timorese.
The council also authorized the deployment of up to 280 UN civilian police to advise their Indonesian counterparts and some 50 military liaison officers, who will handle contacts with the Indonesian Army.
A contingent of about 90 UN political officers are already in East Timor and may open the first voter registration office in the capital of Dili sometime next week.
Security leading up to the ballot has been a key issue.
But before voter registration gets under way, UN Secretary- General Kofi Annan has to certify "that the necessary security situation exists for the peaceful implementation of the consultation process", according to the May 7 council resolution endorsing the accords.
"There are security and political issues that will need to be addressed before the secretary-general can make the determination that we can proceed on the operational phases," Francesc Vendrell, head of the Asia and Pacific division in the U.N. political affairs department, told reporters.