CIVIL REGISTRATION DEADLINE EXTENDED FOR TWO DAYS

UNTAET’s Civil Registration Unit has extended the registration process of East Timor’s population by two days in order not to exclude the high number of people still arriving at registration centers, especially in Dili. Civil registration was initially scheduled to end on 20 June, but will now proceed through Friday, 22 June. Civil Registration officials have expressed concern that a significant number of young men who appear not to be from Dili are attempting to register for a second time in the capital. These officials stress that registering twice does not allow a person to vote twice, and will simply mean that the person’s first registration will be deleted from the registration rolls. Therefore those registering for a second time in Dili will have to return to the capital on election day should they wish to vote. As of this morning, more than 762,000 people – some 94 percent of East Timor’s estimated population – has registered. The head of the Civil Registration Unit Peter Rimmele said today that registration is “virtually complete outside Dili”, and that four fixed sites and two mobile sites are operating in Dili in order to process last-minute registrants.

CONSTITUTIONAL COMMISSIONS BEGIN HEARINGS

Constitutional Commissions yesterday began the public hearing phase of the constitutional consultation process. Some 400 people yesterday attended a hearing in Suai town, and around 70 attended a hearing in Dili this morning. The hearings aim to seek the views of the East Timorese on what should be considered by the future Constituent Assembly when drafting a constitution. The commissions - consisting of between five and seven Commissioners, one Rapporteur and one Constitutional Adviser - will be holding public hearings in each sub-district over the next four weeks. The commissioners have already completed a two-week familiarization tour during which they visited each sub-district to inform the public about the commission’s work. The public hearing phase is scheduled to end on 14 July. The Constitutional Commissioners will subsequently prepare a report from each district that will ultimately be presented by the Transitional Administrator to a future Constituent Assembly.

INDEPENDENT ELECTION CANDIDATES
APPLY FOR REGISTRATION

As of today, four independent candidates have submitted applications for registration to the Independent Electoral Commission in order to stand in the election for the Constituent Assembly. Three of them will run for national seats and one for a district seat. The three national candidates are Bento Mendonça, Domingos Alves and Daniel da Silva Ramalho. Agapito Ramos will run as an independent candidate for the Losplos District seat. Daniel da Silva Ramalho filed his registration application with the Commission today; Bento Mendonça submitted his application on 15 June, Domingos Alves submitted on 14 June and Agapito Ramos from Lospalos district filed his registration yesterday. The registration application is available for public inspection at Independent Electoral Commission’s headquarters in Dili for two weeks after having been submitted.

Separately, representatives of political parties are invited by Radio and TV UNTAET for a meeting tomorrow to further discuss direct access to airtime during the campaign period beginning 15 July. A number of proposals are being discussed concerning the amount of airtime each party should be allocated for their political broadcasts; at what time of day the broadcasts should be aired, and other related questions. Finally, on the electoral front, the Cabinet Member for Political Affairs and Timor Sea, Peter Galbraith, today presented the draft regulation on electoral offences to the National Council. Following a question and answer period, a majority of the councilors agreed to the regulation in principle. It was then forwarded for detailed consideration to the Standing Committee on Political Affairs, which will report back to the Council on 26 June.

UNTAET SRSG TO ADDRESS NATIONAL COUNCIL;
THEN BEGINS DISTRICTS TOUR

SRSG Sergio Vieira de Mello will be addressing the National Council on 28 June to review the work of UNTAET and East Timor Transitional Administration to date. He will also use the opportunity to discuss in some detail the post-election phase and the final run-up to the East Timor’s independence. In addition, the SRSG will this weekend begin a series of trips to each of East Timor’s 13 districts as part of the civil education efforts. It is the SRSG’s hope to visit each district before the electoral campaign begins on 15 July. He intends to talk with people about the electoral process and answer questions. The SRSG will begin the district tours with a visit to Liquiça on Saturday.

OBSERVERS RELEASE FINDINGS ON
REFUGEES IN WEST TIMOR

The final report of the international observers monitoring the Indonesian government’s 6 June registration of East Timorese refugees in West Timor was delivered to the Indonesian Government on Friday. The objective of the registration process was to both ascertain the precise number of East Timorese refugees currently in West Timor and to determine how many of them wish to remain in Indonesia. The 12 international observers, including one from UNTAET, stressed that they had visited only 120 of the 507 registration points, so could not validate the final number of those who registered. However, they noted that registration points were overall set correctly and at no point was any direct physical intimidation of refugees or officials observed. The observers also stressed that the final numbers should be viewed as a choice made by the refugees on the day of the registration, and not necessarily an indication of their permanent intentions. The results of the registration are expected to assist the Indonesian Government in planning concrete actions to lead toward a solution to the East Timorese refugee problem.

FIRST DEFENSE FORCE GRADUATION
TO BE HELD ON THURSDAY

Two hundred and forty-seven cadets are scheduled to be formally inducted into the East Timor Defense Force (ETDF) this Thursday, 21 June, after completing a four-month training course in Alieu. This will be the first graduation ceremony of cadets entering into the Defense Force. After a few days of leave, the entire ETDF will commence preparations for the move from Alieu to Metinaro, in Dili district. The graduating class consists of 68 officers, 130 sergeants, and 49 privates. A formal ceremony will be held to mark the graduation on Thursday in Alieu which will be attended by the SRSG Sergio Vieira de Mello, Xanana Gusmão, Bishop Belo, and Brigadier General Taur Matan Ruak, Chief of the East Timor Defense Force. The graduating class will undertake duties which include working at the ETDF headquarters in Dili and training to become instructors for future classes. A new class of 348 cadets is scheduled to begin an identical basic training course in mid-July once the move from Alieu to Metinaro has been completed.

KING ABDULLAH II OF JORDAN TO VISIT EAST TIMOR

King Abdullah II of Jordan is scheduled to visit East Timor this Friday, 22 June. The King will spend the entirety of his six-hour visit in Baucau and Oecussi, where he will meet with members of UNTAET’s Jordanian peacekeeping force and Rapid Response contingents.

ETTA RELEASES SUCO SURVEY DATA

The National Planning and Development Agency of the East Timor Transitional Authority has completed a survey of East Timor’s Sucos as part of its ongoing Poverty Assessment. The survey’s findings include data on language, food availability, agriculture, education and health. Among the survey’s findings was evidence that 80 percent of Sucos report food shortages in the month of January, and that the number of usable classrooms is now only 14 percent below the pre-violence level. The agency will present its Suco Survey data this Friday, 22 June, in Dili.