Dili, 21 May 2001
UN VOLUNTEERS TO ARRIVE IN EAST TIMOR,
JOINING THE ELECTORAL DEPARTMENT


Fifty-seven UN Volunteers arrive in Dili tomorrow, 22 May, to join the Independent Electoral Commission as District Electoral Officers. Another group will arrive early next week. The altogether 122 UNVs, 76 men and 46 women, come from 45 countries. The District Electoral Officers attended a five-day briefing in Darwin on 17-21 May on principles of election administration, the electoral regulation and the plan for the 30 August elections. Chief Electoral Officer Carlos Valenzuela and Kevin Gilroy, Chief of the UNV Support Unit, briefed the UNVs. The District Electoral Officers will be assigned to a district office and then deployed to one of the 65 sub-districts of East Timor, where they will be responsible for the preparation, organization and conduct of polling at the local level, disseminating voter education/ information, and recruiting and training East Timorese polling staff. The District Electoral Officers have a minimum of three years practical experience in development fieldwork and many have a working knowledge of Portuguese, Bahasa Indonesia or Tetum.

PPT FIRST TO RECEIVE OFFICAL PARTY CERTIFICATE

The Partido do Povo de Timor (PPT) today received its official political party certificate of registration from the Independent Electoral Commission, becoming the first party to be registered with the Commission for the purpose of presenting candidates to the elections for a Constituent Assembly on 30 August. Independent Electoral Commission staff delivered the certificate of registration in person to the leader of the PPT, Jacob Xavier. Partido do Povo de Timor (People’s Party of Timor) was the first party to submit a complete application with the Independent Electoral Commission when party registration started on 7 May.