RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLITICAL TRANSITION APPROVED

The National Council today approved a set of recommendations on the political transition in East Timor, put forward by the Council’s Standing Committee on Political Affairs. The recommendations call for elections to an 88-member Constituent Assembly on 30 August 2001, and that by 15 December a constitution should be proclaimed and the constituent assembly transformed into a national parliament. The National Council, however, stated that more discussions are needed regarding the exact dates before the proposal is finally sent to the Transitional Administrator for approval. The recommendations follow months of consultation and five days of public hearings, in which the Committee heard testimonies of 22 people representing a wide range of interests and views in the society. A number of written suggestions were also received by the Committee and were taken into consideration. The Committee, chaired by National Council Speaker Xanana Gusmão, further recommends that each of East Timor’s 13 districts shall elect one representative on a First Past the Post-basis, to represent the interests of the districts in the Constituent Assembly. Seventy-five members shall be elected on a nation-wide basis. The elected assembly shall prepare and adopt a constitution of an independent and democratic East Timor in a period of 90 days. The Committee also recommended that CNRT should organize a National Convention to draft, debate and adopt a Pact of National Unity, and that the signing of the pact should not be a prerequisite to registering political parties.