Voting begins as East Timor keeps date with democracy

MANATUTO - East Timorese kept what the United Nations has called a date with democracy today when they voted in the first democratic election of their turbulent and bloody history.

After centuries of foreign occupation, the death of a quarter of the population and the near destruction of the territory, the election of a constituent assembly will bring closer the independence for which they have paid such a high price.

Today is also the second anniversary of a UN-run ballot that rejected Indonesian rule and unleashed a fury of killing and destruction by pro-Jakarta militias backed by Indonesian troops.

Polls opened at 7 am (10 am NZT) and observers reported a moderate turnout in and around the capital Dili.

Many voters turned out in their best clothes to cast their vote in this seaside town east of Dili.

"We are very happy," voter Mateus Amaro Braz, said. "After 24 years we finally get to choose our future. We are not afraid of violence any more."

A total of 425,000 voters - all East Timorese aged above 17 - are eligible to vote.

"I'd be surprised to see voter turnout less than 90 per cent and I would not be surprised to see 95, 96 per cent," the head of the United Nations Development Program in East Timor, Finn Reske-Nielsen, said.

"It bodes well for the future."

Fretilin, which spearheaded the fight for independence from Indonesia, is expected to win an overwhelming majority in the election, which is being contested by 16 parties and more than 1,000 candidates.

The half-island territory - the other half is still Indonesia - has been a sea of color as party faithful joined parades and rock concerts until the UN administration's ban on political activity came into force on Tuesday.

Despite fears of bloodshed and of raids by militiamen sheltering in Indonesian West Timor, the campaign has been remarkably peaceful.

The 88-member assembly will draw up a constitution, paving the way for choosing a president, most likely in another election by April, and ultimately independence for the former Portuguese colony.

Informal results are expected by about September 5 and a formal tally on September 10.

Xanana Gusmao, a charismatic poet turned guerrilla leader, is virtually certain to become the first leader of the world's newest country. He is not running in the assembly election but is favorite to win any presidential poll.

Gusmao has said he would rather take photographs and grow pumpkins than be president, but on the weekend he reluctantly caved in to public pressure to stand in the presidential vote. He has no real rival.

Once a source of fabulous wealth for its Portuguese masters because of its sandalwood, East Timor has never known freedom.

Timor island was later carved up between the Dutch and the Portuguese after a long period of Portuguese control of the eastern half.

Indonesia, which surrounds East Timor, invaded the territory in 1975 after Portugal's disorganized withdrawal and annexed it the following year.

More than 200,000 people - a quarter of the territory's population - were killed in the fighting, famine and disease that followed.

But Indonesia's rule was never recognized by the mainstream world community or the United Nations.

Its hold on East Timor began falling apart after soldiers shot dead dozens of mourners at a funeral procession in Dili in 1991, rekindling foreign opposition to Jakarta's rule.

The army-backed rule of then-President Suharto, who oversaw the invasion of East Timor, collapsed amid political and social chaos in 1998.

His successor, B.J. Habibie, offered the impoverished territory the choice of autonomy or independence.

Despite militia intimidation and massacres in the lead-up to the UN-organized vote on August 30, 1999, almost 99 per cent of voters turned out and nearly 80 per cent rejected Jakarta's rule.

- REUTERS

Feature: Indonesia

CIA World Factbook: Indonesia (with map)

Dept. of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia

Antara news agency

Indonesian Observer

The Jakarta Post

UN Transitional Administration in E Timor

East Timor Action Network