Notícias em inglês - 16 de Abril de 2007

"Technical mistake" clouds ETimor poll

Dili, April 15 (AFP) - A huge discrepancy between the number of registered voters in a district and the actual number of votes reported was the result of a technical error, an East Timorese electoral commission spokesman said Sunday.

Confusion surrounding the first round of voting in East Timor's presidential election mounted on Saturday when the election commission said the Baucau district, with 100,000 eligible voters, had produced three times as many votes.

The figure of 300,000 "was not at all there," Martinho Gusmao, spokesman for the national election commission, told a press conference here.

"This discrepancy was a technical mistake by the STAE (East Timorese Technical Secretariat for Election Administration) and the polling staff," Gusmao said, adding that the real figure was around 100,000 votes.

He said the mistake was "in the matter of writing up thefigure," and was only discovered Saturday evening.

Election commission chief Faustino Cardoso said the error was a technical mistake by polling staff.

"The distortion at several polling centres was because of their lack of capacity and knowledge of the electoral process," Cardoso told journalists separately.

Gusmao declined to say whether the mistake had affected the results so far. He said the final results would be taken to the court of appeal, where it would be decided whether a second round would be necessary.

East Timor, which is holding its first presidential poll since independence in 2002, has just 520,000 eligible voters.

Jose Ramos-Horta, East Timor's current prime minister, and Francisco "Lu-Olo" Guterres, the ruling Fretilin party's candidate, have emerged from a field of eight candidates to contest the run-off.

The commission said Friday that serious flaws in the election could force some areas to repeat first-round voting.

Most of the candidates who stood formally demanded a recount, even though international observers said the poll in the former Portuguese colony was generally orderly and peaceful.
The commission had rejected a recount on Thursday, saying there was no legal basis on which to grant the request.

A number of the candidates also raised the possibility that voters were intimidated, stoking fears of instability in the troubled state ahead of the second round.


Business Day (South Africa) - 16 April 2007
Portugal hopes for Timor peace

John Kaninda, Diplomatic Editor
As accusations of vote rigging threaten stability in East Timor, Portuguese Foreign Affairs Minister Luis Amado has expressed hopes that political maturity will prevail and contenders will respond to the expectations of their people by establishing a democratically elected government.
Amado was speaking at the close of a working visit to his South African counterpart, Nkosasana Dlamini-Zuma, in Pretoria on Friday. “It is unacceptable to see such a country letting itself become submerged again in suspicion and unrest that could lead to political violence,” Amado said.

Monday’s poll was the first presidential election on the island since East Timor’s independence in 2002, but it has been clouded by growing calls for a recount and allegations that it was conducted unfairly. Indonesian occupation of East Timor ended in 1999 with a bloody split, and violence has pulsed through the impoverished state since then.

International peacekeepers were dispatched last year to restore order. Accusations of electoral fraud were levelled by Democratic Party candidate Fernando Lasama who, in an eight-page letter written to electoral commissioner Faustino Cardoso, said that voting irregularities, including “repulsive, anti-democratic and manipulative acts”, were sufficient to declare the April 9 election invalid.

Electoral spokesman Martinho Gusmao told journalists earlier that official counts showed more than 300000 extra voters had been registered in the district of Baucau, where initially 51000 were shown as eligible to vote.

Lasama repeated this claim, but also listed cases of alterations of tally sheets, use of false ballot papers and instances of multiple voting. “We have handed documents on to (United Nations representative) Atul Khare,” he said. “And (we) are waiting for a decision from the national electoral commission.”

Amado feels, however, that leaders in the former Portuguese colony should concentrate on finding a peaceful resolution.

“The electoral process was satisfactory, according to reports issued by international observers. We can view these elections as a milestone, considering they are the first ever held since independence there and the fact they might open the door for a better future in that country. And even if the opposition lays claims of fraud, the most important thing is that any disagreement be managed peacefully.”

Amado said that East Timor had not come up in his discussions with Dlamini-Zuma.

Jakarta Post - April 16, 2007
Timor Leste election was free and fair: South Africa

The atmosphere in Dili during the election campaign and at the time of voting was calm and peaceful and both were in accordance with electoral regulations, South Africa's observer mission said last week.

The South African government sent a four-member election observer mission to Timor Leste. The team was led by the South African Ambassador to Indonesia, who is also accredited to Timor Leste, Griffiths Mandlenkosi Memela.

"In the voting stations visited by the South African mission, the voting process was well organized, with electoral officers adhering to the operating schedule as prescribed in the election manual," the mission said in a press release sent to The Jakarta Post last week from Dili.
Despite earlier concerns about the possibility of a resurgence of violence during the elections, the release said, the atmosphere at voting stations was calm and no incidents of harassment, violence or victimization were reported.

"Voters were generally well behaved, demonstrating maturity and readiness to exercise their choice, free from any undue influence.

"Electoral officers and party officials were disciplined and vigilant throughout the process, creating an atmosphere that was conducive for voters to exercise their democratic rights to elect a candidate of their choice," the mission said.

According to the release, United Nations Police units were deployed at voting stations and International Stabilization Force (ISF) personnel were visible and patrolled the streets to ensure law and order without intimidating voters and interfering with the election process.
"Based on the observations made in the foregoing, the observer mission concludes that the presidential elections held on April 9, 2007, were free and fair, and that the results will be a true reflection of the will of the people of Timor-Leste," the mission said.

The mission thanked the government of Timor-Leste for extending an invitation to South Africa to send observers. The mission also commended the National Election Commission, United Nations Mission in Timor Leste (UNMIT) and the Timor Leste people for delivering a successful election process.