SVM: Let me say briefly, how pleased we are to receive the President of the World Bank, Jim Wolfensohn, here today, his visit is the source of great encouragement to all of us, East Timorese and UNTAET, in a very difficult period that lies ahead. You have heard us many times refer to the exemplary type of co-operation that we have established with the World Bank, with the International Monetary Fund, as well as with the CNRT in preparing for the Tokyo Conference, where I believe we projected an image of unity, which in turn brought about a very successful outcome for the half a billion US dollars pledged in assistance for East Timor for a period of three years.
Many of you have been asking me, asking Xanana, often relaying questions of the Timorese population, of the Timorese public, why it has been taking so long for that assistance to be delivered. We have explained that while it is easy to destroy, it takes time to rebuild in a sustainable manner. And I want to say here in Jim Wolfensohn’s presence that the Bank has been helping us in earnest, since the Tokyo meeting in the design of projects that donors would find sustainable and that East Timorese would believe are sustainable as well. Jim Wolfensohn has already taken a number of measures with the support of his colleagues, some of whom are present here, and whom I wish to thank for their support, in order to accelerate the delivery under a number of sectoral priorities, which were identified in the first two weeks of January and presented to the donor community in Washington on the 25th of January.
We are therefore, in that very delicate, difficult phase which precedes the actual implementation of the large-scale labour intensive programmes that the Bank will be funding. And the signature of this project today is perhaps the best concrete answer that we can give to the Timorese population, because this is a community empowerment project, a clear demonstration that no one wishes to impose programmes designed abroad on the Timorese people.
On the contrary, the main purpose of this project is to provide local communities with a say, a predominant say in the setting of priorities in the choice of projects that they believe are in the interest of the local communities. This is the main purpose of this project, the establishment of local representative councils, that will play a determining role in setting priorities in identifying areas in which the Bank and UNTAET together can provide support. I wish once again to thank Jim and his colleges for their presence here today and I give him the floor.
Q: Why the resistance to the word election in the agreement?
SVM: The answer is very simple, what we want to avoid as you have heard me say before, is a premature politicization of the environment. I think it is well understood that we are in what Xanana calls “the emergency phase.” It is premature to enter into the political phase. That will come later. So, our concern is that elections under the community empowerment programme, which are intended to elect local representatives who will decide on the allocation of funds for development projects at the community level, should not be confused with local elections – local political elections for the establishment of local political bodies. That’s all. We did not want a development-oriented election to be confused with a political election. That’s all.