Notícias em inglês

AAP – Saturday Apr 14 16:29 AEST
Australian troop raids anger Dili locals
By Jill Jolliffe in Dili

Dili residents are angry about the latest Australian military operations, apparently undertaken to increase pressure on the fugitive Major Alfredo Reinado.

Eight Reinado family members were detained during a night-time raid on their central Dili home on Monday, a move prompting criticism from human rights watchdog Yayasan Hak. "The soldiers think Alfredo is in Dili. His uncle Victor Alves's house was encircled, and relatives taken to an Australian camp for questioning," rights activist Jose Luis Oliveira said.

He said they were interrogated for four hours. "Among the questions asked was how they voted in the elections," Oliveira said. "This is a violation of human rights."

On Thursday, houses in the inner suburb of Kampung Alor were surrounded and searched around 4pm (local time), raising occupants' hackles.

Widow Rosa Soares said soldiers entered her house with guns in hands. "They held up a photo of Major Alfredo and asked if I had seen him. Then they went through each room, searching drawers, and pulling things out," she said.

Next-door neighbour Ana Maria was alone with three children when soldiers appeared at her front door, but in this case they asked permission to enter.

She said they searched each room, pulling out drawers and overturning mattresses. "We were scared," she said. "My son Iko asked: `Mummy why are foreigners searching our house?'"

A spokesman for Australia's International Stabilisation Force (ISF) denied Thursday's operation was linked to Reinado, or that any homes had been entered.

"UN police and ISF forces conducted operations in relation to electoral security," he said. "Our targets were gangs and illegal weapons."

He said "many illegal weapons" were confiscated, including a home-made rifle.

Ana Maria said the troops returned things to their place before leaving, but Ms Soares said they left her house in disarray, as did neighbour Jacinto de Andrade, a deputy for the opposition Social Democrat Association. "They forced entry," he said. "These troops were supposed to come here to free us, not to violate our rights. This system reminds us of Indonesian times."

The spokesman denied the charges. "We did not enter any houses," he said.

The ISF is currently sending regular unsolicited SMS messages to mobile phones in East Timor calling on Reinado to surrender.

"We want a peaceful solution - when are Reinado and his fugitives coming to check this with us?" an army text sent out to Dili phones asked.



Jakarta Post – April 14, 2007
I can talk with everyone in Timor Leste, Ramos-Horta says

Despite accusations of irregularities and fraud in the vote counting process, Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta and Fretilin's Francisco Guterres Lu 'Olo emerged as the winners and moved to the run-off stage in recent elections in Timor Leste.
The Jakarta Post's Abdul Khalik interviewed Ramos-Horta in his office in Dili on Friday. The following are excerpts of the interview.

Question: What is your assessment on the election?

Answer: Generally, I would say it has been peaceful with a few nasty, ugly incidents of violence perpetrated mostly by radical Fretilin elements in the Los Palos, Dili and Viqueque districts. These groups are traditionally very intolerant and radical and never accept other people's views.

Of course, this does not mean the Fretilin leadership is responsible.

The leadership of Fretilin always tries to encourage its members not to be involved in such instances of violence but many of them are a bit crazy and don't listen. What happens is they discredit the party and the more violence they commit the more the party is discredited.

What about allegations of fraud and irregularities during the election?

Yes, there have been many reports of irregularities on the part of the STAE (Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration), a state entity that deals with the election.

There have been some strange things happening such as one candidate that was very much behind in the vote within a matter of hours receiving over 20,000 extra votes. Also, why was the vote counting in Baucau so slow and why did nine ballot boxes that were not counted beforehand suddenly appear in Dili? Because of instances like these, there are strong suspicions.

But there is no hard evidence yet.

Will these irregularities undermine the credibility of the election?

Definitely, it will undermine the credibility of the vote counting process. But fortunately we have a second round. The international community can take more measures to prevent the repetition of irregularities and lack of professionalism in the run-off.

Unfortunately, that will not help the third or fourth placed candidates that are already out. Maybe if there was no fraud, Mr. Lasama (Fernando de Araujo) would have progressed to the second round rather than Mr. Francisco Guterres.

Will whoever wins the run-off be credible enough to be Timor Leste President?

As long as the United Nations and the friendly countries take action right now to prevent the repetition of threats, violence and the intervention of election officials and Fretilin.

Many believe that the losing candidates will unite behind you because they are the traditional opposition of Fretilin. How do you see this possibility?

Well, directly after this meeting I will attend a lunch with all the opposition parties. Mr. Xavier do Amaral (who obtained the fourth largest vote) has pledged 100 percent to support me. And I will go to his district to talk with his supporters.

What qualities do you have to help you win the presidency?

My advantage against Mr. Guterres is that I have always been independent and I talk with every one. Its very difficult for someone like Mr. Guterres to suddenly try to convince people that he is independent and neutral.

Secondly, I have always had a very good rapport with the Church. I have a very good relationship with Protestants and Muslims as well as Hindus and Buddhists. I also have very good relations with President Xanana Gusmao, with Mari Alkatiri (the secretary general of Fretilin and former prime minister) and with Mr. Guterres himself.

It is my nature to talk with everyone because I enjoy talking to people. Mr. Guterres doesn't have the personality and charisma to talk with people. We also differ in the area of foreign policy. Mr. Guterres always thinks of Mozambique and Portugal whereas I think of Indonesia, ASEAN countries, Australia and New Zealand. I also think of China, Japan, South Korea and India.

If you become the President, what will you do to make things better? What will you do with the oil money from the Timor Gap?

We have a lot of oil money now that has not been spent. We have to spend it faster to help the poor, students, youth and widows of this country.

We have to create jobs by investing in infrastructure and in tree planting activities by mobilizing thousands of youth to save our mountainous environment.

I am also planning to introduce a radical fiscal reform policy. After it is implemented sometime this year, it will be the most liberal fiscal regime in the entire Asian region after Hong Kong. Most taxes will be eliminated, meaning consumer items aside from alcohol and cigarettes will not be taxed. Computers, educational materials, cars, tractors and trucks will not be taxed whatsoever. Corporate taxes will be mostly eliminated.

What about Timor Leste-Indonesia relations under your presidency?

These relations will be improved even more. Since I became foreign minister and prime minister, I have visited Indonesia maybe 30 times to see President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Ibu Megawati Soekarnoputri and my good friend Abdurrahman Wahid.

I have had many good friends in Indonesia for more than 30 years. I will settle some urgent issues before the end of the year. Border demarcation must be settled and border trade must be regulated to enable tens of thousands of people living on both sides of the border to travel freely across the border.

I would also like to consider a free trade agreement between Timor Leste and Indonesia. We buy a lot from Indonesia. Why should we be concerned about taxes? We should let our people trade with each other to earn a living without taxes.

If you win the presidency, will Fretilin's opposition bring ineffectiveness to your administration?
No, I don't think so because I am a founding member of Fretilin. I have support from many thousands of its members, who see that I am better for Fretilin and for President. If I win, then Fretilin have not lost, only the so called Maputu or Mozambique group known as the Alkatiri faction. But those who never left the country are very supportive of me. I also have a good rapport with Dr. Alkatiri and have worked with him.

Associate Professor Damien Kingsbury - Election Observation Team Director - April 14, 2007

The Case of the Missiing 166,000 East Timorese Voters
Some election observers (myself included) - and East Timor's Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta have been disturbed by the large gap between the official number of registered voters in East Timor and the number of valid votes actually cast.

With 522,933 registered voters, there were only 357,766 valid votes cast, leaving a worrying gap of 165,167 voters having 'disappeared'. This is easily a big enough number to cast doubt over the whole voting process.

The failure of the Electoral Commission to acknowledge this discrepancy, much less provide an adequate explanation for it, has further increased quite legitimate concerns. However, it now appears that the 'missing' voters have been 'found', or at least their number accounted for.
East Timor' Electoral Commission, like many other institutions in East Timor, is still learning how to do things. Since its formation earlier this year, the Electoral Commission's learning curve has been steep, and it has faltered a few times along the way.

One of the mistakes it has made is that registered voters who have died since the last ballot two years ago have not been taken off the register. This could account for around six per cent of the registered voters, or perhaps more. Beyond this, it appears there has been a relatively high proportion of votes counted as 'invalid', either being black or not properly marked.

The differing criteria for what constitutes a valid mark on a ballot paper between polling stations, and the clear partisan allegiance of some polling staff, has meant that the Electoral Commission has now decided to re-assess all invalid votes in Dili. This will not significantly alter the outcome of the vote, but it is a confidence boosting measure and a good sign of transparency. Invalid votes, however, currently account for around 10 per cent of the ballots cast.

Beyond this, a significant number of voters did not attend the polls. No-one knows the exact figure, but it seems that at least seven per cent of registered voters did not cast their votes, and that number could well be higher. Beyond this, there were also a of registered East Timorese living overseas, who were not allowed to vote in this ballot.

Finally, when some voters sought new voter registration cards, their earlier registration numbers were not deleted from the lists, meaning that a significant number of voters were registerd twice. They thus could have also voted twice, except that the broadly applied method of dipping the voter's index finger in indelible ink precluded that.

So, in short, there was a big gap between the official number of registered voters and the actual registered valid vote. But we now seem to have a plausible explanation.

It is a pity, however, that the Electoral Commission was not able to provide this explanation. It would have saved considerable angst, and taken away one of the concerns over what was widely regarded as an imperfect but generally free and fair election.

- Associate Professor Damien Kingsbury Coordinator, Victorian Local Governance Association Election Observation Team Director, Masters of International and Community Development School of International and Political Studies Deakin University


Canberra Times – Saturday, 14 April 2007
Opinion: East Timor election revives tensions

East Timor's presidential election, the first since independence in 2002, has again brought to the surface the political tensions and instability that emerged in the country last March when an army mutiny sparked clashes that led to three dozen people being killed and 150,000 people fleeing their homes. Former foreign minister Jose Ramos Horta (now the acting Prime Minister), secured 22 per cent of the popular vote, and will now head into a final ballot with Francisco Gutteres, who polled 28 per cent of the vote. Despite the presence of a number of independent election monitors, many of the first-round candidates complained of irregularities and demanded a recount. Ramos Horta in particular accused Fretilin of intimidating voters a charge denied by a spokesman for Gutteres.

UN observers have declared that voting passed without violence or intimidation, suggesting a recount is unlikely. The two-way ballot scheduled for May 9 will pit an independent candidate (Ramos Horta) against the president of the most powerful political party in East Timor albeit one discredited somewhat by the events before and during last year's crisis. Although Ramos Horta has considerable standing in East Timor and internationally (not to mention the support of the father of independence, Xanana Gusmao), the presidential vote is likely to be close.
Fretilin is the oldest pro-independence party in East Timor and has an extensive apparatus able to guarantee votes throughout the country but particularly in rural areas in the east of the country where loyalty to its cause remains undiminished.

It is a different story elsewhere, though, with many East Timorese having become angry at the almost complete lack of economic and social progress and disenchanted with Fretilin's apparent partiality to cronyism and elitism. Former prime minister Mari Alkatiri, who was by turns abrasive and arrogant during his term in office, was the lightning rod for much of this dissatisfaction, which boiled over into violence after skirmishes between army and security force factions. Alkatiri defied calls for his resignation for weeks after the violence, relenting only after Gusmao issued an ultimatum on June 26, declaring that he would resign the presidency if Alkatiri did not quit.

As Fretilin's secretary-general, he still wields considerable power, however, and doubtless will play a crucial role in the parliamentary election in June. But whether he intends standing again for the job of prime minister is unclear. The considerable interest in this week's presidential election ignores the fact that under East Timor's constitution, the president exercises very little power. Those levers lie with the office of prime minister, which explains Gusmao's decision to nominate as a candidate for the June election.

To run for office, Gusmao has formed his own political party, the CNRT, and he is likely to seek coalitions with other minor parties to broaden his appeal, which is considerable in any event. Appropriately perhaps, given he and Ramos Horta are attempting what amounts to a job swap, they have formed a loose alliance while being careful to stress their centrism and independence from Fretilin, despite being founding members of the organisation in the days of Portuguese colonial rule.

As well as being genuine revolutionary heroes who have kept their distance from the worst excesses of Fretilin, the pair can also count on the support of the Catholic Church in East Timor, which wields considerable influence throughout the country, and which is implacably opposed to the return of Alkatiri as prime minister.

But Fretilin, too, can play the patriot card. Already, Alkatiri has ramped up his nationalist rhetoric by hinting that he was ousted as a result of a conspiracy led by foreign forces, a thinly veiled accusation against Australia. The escapades of fugitive military rebel Major Alfredo Reinado have also fuelled anti-Australian sentiment. Compounding this, careless public utterances by Foreign Minister Alexander Downer have created the perception in some quarters that the Australian Government has chosen to take sides in domestic politics. Whether warranted or not, there is the potential for people like Alkatiri to fan this anti-Australian sentiment for political gain. That the large Australian peacekeeping presence in East Timor should now represent an easy target for unscrupulous politicians is to be lamented. The calls for United Nations intervention in the wake of vote-rigging allegations this week show a worrying tendency by East Timor's political elite to fall back on easy solutions. So long as foreign intervention and support remains an easy out for East Timor's leaders, there will be a reluctance to tackle the difficult issues. And it is not just the obvious things like poverty that need to be addressed. Basic governance reforms need to be discussed and implemented. On the evidence so far, all that the East Timor experiment seems to prove is that the smaller the political stage the more venomous (and sterile) the disputes tend to be.

The Jakarta Post - Saturday, April 14, 2007
100 violations found in Timor Leste poll
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Dili

The Timor Leste National Election Commission (CNE) said Friday it had found more than 100 cases of violations and irregularities in Monday's presidential election.

The commission plans to submit its findings to the Supreme Court, which will decide whether the cases affect the legal validity of the election.

CNE spokesman Martinho G. da Silva Gusmao said that after a CNE plenary meeting and two days spent examining the cases they had decided to forward them to the court.
"We have found 50 cases in Dili alone. We are still verifying other districts but so far more than 100 violations have been found. We will submit the cases to the court once we complete our verification. It will be then depend on the court to decide on the validity of the election," he told The Jakarta Post.

Gusmao said that should the court find substantial evidence that the violations had affected the results of the election, a new vote would be held in several districts throughout the country.
Vote counting at the district level finished on Wednesday. Francisco Guterres Lu `Olo, of ruling party Fretilin, garnered more than 28 percent of the vote, while Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta took more than 22 percent. The two will face each other in a run-off election on May 8.
The Democratic Party's Fernando "Lasama" de Araujo took the third-greatest proportion of the vote, with more than 18 percent, followed by Francisco Xavier do Amaral of the Timorese Social Democratic Association on 12 percent and Lucia Maria Lobato of the Socialist Democrat Party on close to 10 percent.

Candidates Manuel Tilman, Avelino Maria Coelho da Silva and João Viegas Carrascalao each took less than 5 percent of the vote.

Lasama, do Amaral, Lucia Lobato, Manuel Tilman and da Silva have challenged the results and filed a formal complaint with the CNE, saying they had found irregularities in the voting and counting process.

Earlier in the week they demanded that vote counting be stopped until all the ballot boxes were secured in one place, at which point it could resume in the presence of all eight candidates.

"We will not accept the CNE's counting results unless they follow our demands. If the CNE proceeds with their current process then we will challenge the election results in the court," they said.
Gusmao said the CNE could not stop the counting process as it was already complete and invited representatives of the eight parties to witness the national tabulation of the votes to verify the process.

"Besides, they haven't presented us with hard evidence, just a letter of complaint. If they're not satisfied, they can file a complaint with the court," he said.

Ramos-Horta acknowledged that some irregularities had occurred and there had been a few incidents of violence, which he blamed on Fretilin elements in Los Palos, Dili and Viqueque.
"Yes, there are many reports of irregularities on the part of the (Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration, a state entity dealing with the election). There have been some strange things happening, in which one candidate is very much behind then within a matter of hours gets more than 20,000 votes extra," he told the Post.

Ramos-Horta, however, said that although there was strong suspicion of fraud and other problems, no hard evidence has been presented so far.