Who is E. Timor's next governor?

DILI: Debate is raging over who should lead East Timor when Governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares's term of office ends on Sept. 18.

The provincial legislative council, which has the right to propose gubernatorial candidates to the President, has proposed four names.

The candidates are Abilio, the incumbent governor; Armindo Soares Mariano, chief of the Golkar faction in the legislative council; Domingos Maria Das Dores Soares, Dili governor; FX Lopez da Cruz, Indonesia's ambassador on East Timor affairs; and Tito dos Santos Baptista, an Indonesian staffer at the UN.

Agustinho Goncalves, chief of the East Timor chapter of the National Youths Committee, said he supported the reelection of Abilio.

A politician who declined to be named said he also supported Abilio on the grounds that the governor was capable of leading East Timor to economic development. (3/pan)