Independence of East Timor
‘A Smooth and Representative Election Process’
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UNHCR Photo/M. Kobayashi
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East Timor’s peaceful transition towards independence has been an impressive success story for the United Nations. On 30 August 2001, exactly two years
after it had voted for independence in a UN-sponsored popular referendum, East Timor held its first-ever democratic elections. An estimated 91 per cent of the 425,000 registered voters elected a
Constituent Assembly, which was given 90 days to draft and adopt a Constitution for East Timor. Following are some of the more recent events since then.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan called the historic elections “a glowing example to the world community”. Following the certification of the results on 10 September, the Security Council
hailed the orderly and peaceful conduct of the elections and the very high voter turnout. The Council urged all parties to work together to draft a Constitution that reflected the will of the East
Timorese people. It recognized the important role of the East Timorese leadership, the cooperation extended by the Government of Indonesia during the election period, and the work of the UN
Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) in facilitating “a smooth and representative election process”. UNTAET Chief Sergio Vieira de Mello said the final results were “a
clear indication of the aspirations of the Timorese people” who had “proven the sceptics wrong” and shown that their country’s democracy had “indeed taken root”.
On 12 September, East Timorese leaders met in Jakarta with Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri for the first time since she took office. At the encounter, described as “extremely
cordial”, the parties discussed cooperation and friendship between East Timor and Indonesia, the need to rapidly resolve the question of refugees, and the possible creation of a free trade zone
between East and West Timor.
In its first formal session on 17 September, East Timor’s Constituent Assembly elected FRETILIN President Franscico Guterres as its Speaker. On 18 September, Mr. Vieira de Mello handed over the
Constitutional Commission reports to the Assembly. The reports from each of the territory’s districts contained the suggestions from some 38,000 East Timorese on what they would like to be
considered by the Constituent Assembly when drafting the Constitution. And on 20 September, Mr. Vieira de Mello swore in the 24 members of the all-Timorese Council of Ministers of the Second
Transitional Government before a large audience in Dili. FRETILIN Secretary-General Mari Alkatiri will lead the Government as Chief Minister and Minister of Economy and Development, and Nobel
Laureate José Ramos-Horta was appointed Senior Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. Ana Pessoa will run the Justice portfolio, while Fernanda Borges will be the Minister for Finance.
The Second Transitional Government and its Council of Ministers will govern East Timor during the remaining interim period before independence as a democratic and sovereign State. The same day a
special panel setting up East Timor’s truth commission held its first formal meeting and agreed to reserve one of the seven positions for a pro-autonomy representative. The Commission for
Reception, Truth and Reconciliation will look into the pattern of human rights violations in East Timor committed during the political conflicts between 1974 and 1999. It will also create a community
reconciliation body to facilitate agreements between local communities and the perpetrators of non-serious crimes and non-criminal acts committed over the same period.
The Security Council on 31 October endorsed the Constituent Assembly’s decision to declare independence on 20 May 2002. Agreeing with the Secretary-General’s assessment that the United
Nations should remain engaged in East Timor to protect the major achievements of UNTAET, it endorsed his recommendations that the United Nations continue its role in East Timor after the
territory’s independence, stressing that a premature withdrawal of the international presence could have a destabilizing effect in a number of crucial areas. The new UN mission, he said, would
be based on the premise that operational responsibilities should be gradually handed over to the country’s authorities.
Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees Soren Jessen-Petersen on 10 September held talks with senior Indonesian officials in Jakarta on the return of East Timorese refugees who fled the
post-referendum violence of 1999. He is the highest-ranking UNHCR official to visit Indonesia since three of the agency’s workers were murdered by an angry mob in Atambua on 6 September 2000,
prompting the United Nations to withdraw all its staff from West Timor. An estimated 80,000 East Timorese refugees remain in West Timor, while some 183,000 have returned home.
