Vote on East Timor to be held in July
JAKARTA (JP): A United Nations-organized ballot to determine if East Timorese want independence or to remain part of Indonesia will be held in July, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas announced on Monday.
The direct ballot -- which he described as a direct consultation among the entire 800,000 population -- will be held in the territory. Overseas East Timorese will vote in their respective countries of residence, Alatas said.
"It will be better to probe the views of the East Timorese people in July, after the elections (June 7)," Alatas said after accompanying President B.J. Habibie in welcoming visiting Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen at Merdeka Palace.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced on Friday that Alatas and his Portuguese counterpart Jaime Gama had agreed on a "direct" ballot for East Timorese to decide its future. A formal agreement is expected to be signed on April 22.
Alatas has repeatedly insisted that Indonesia would oppose a referendum because it would be costly and too risky. The direct ballot will be financed by the UN and several countries.
Among requirements for a referendum would be the physical presence in the province of East Timorese living abroad, and withdrawal of Armed Forces (ABRI) troops from the territory or at least a reduced presence, Alatas noted.
With the direct voting plan, he said, "there will be U.N. teams working abroad to probe people's views, and there will be other teams working in East Timor.
"The ballot will be conducted simultaneously and the techniques and details are still being analyzed."
In an interview with an Australian TV station broadcast on Saturday, Annan disclosed the UN plan to establish an international presence in East Timor as soon as negotiations between Indonesia and Portugal were concluded in April.
The world body will rely on the military and other support from countries, including Australia, to ensure a ballot to decide the future of East Timor is peaceful and fair, Annan said.
"We will try to ensure that it (the ballot) is credible, it is democratic, it is free, it is well organized and only those who are entitled to vote are admitted at the ballot box," he said as quoted by AP.
Meanwhile, former proindependence Fretilin leader Abilio Araujo announced on Monday the plan of 15 prominent East Timorese figures to meet in Jakarta this week.
The purpose of the meeting is to ensure a peaceful settlement in the province either by maintaining its integration with Indonesia or through independence.
"We have different opinions but we can talk among ourselves," Araujo said over the weekend.
He said participants would include himself, jailed rebel Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao, Ambassador-at-large Lopez da Cruz, East Timor Governor Jose Osorio Abilio Soares, human rights activist Clementino dos Reis Amaral and former governor Mario Viegas Carrascalao.
Meanwhile, the National Commission on Human Rights agreed with the proposal of Xanana's organization, the National Council for an Independent East Timor (CNRT), to hold reconciliatory dialogs with other groups in the tiny territory to ensure peace.
"We hope the CNRT will protect teachers and paramedics, and economic sectors which play important roles (in East Timor). Their departure from East Timor will only increase the burden of ordinary people," commission member B.N. Marbun told CNRT executive David Ximenes on Monday. (prb)