1512 - Portuguese explorers reach Timor, an island already known to Chinese as a source of sandalwood

1556 - Dominican friary opens at Lifau, in the Oecussi-Ambeno enclave

Sydney – East Timorese voters go to the polls next week to pick the person who will declare their country independent next month.

Dili – Francisco Xavier do Amaral, 66, only had nine days as East Timor's first president in 1975.

Why is Francisco Xavier do Amaral running for president of East Timor when he knows he has no chance of winning?

Dili – The candidates are on the campaign trail, polling staff are ready and the stage is nearly set for East Timor's first presidential election, UNTAET's election chief announced toda

Joanna Jolly, Aileu – On a soccer field in East Timor's central mountains, thousands came to hear Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao make his campaign pitch.

Jill Jolliffe, Atambua – The East Timorese presidential candidate Xanana Gusmao has joined forces with a former enemy soldier in an attempt to repatriate about 60,000 refugees trapped i

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – Indonesia's political parties are self-centered, and ignore the public interest they claim to represent, resulting in a crisis over a loss of confidence, a new p

Dili – Some members of East Timor's ruling party Fretilin were accused of waging a dirty tricks campaign to try to reduce the vote for independence hero Xanana Gusmao in this month's pr

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Jill Jolliffe, Gleno – Just two weeks after a lopsided campaign began for East Timor's presidential elections due on April 14, there are signs that it may be turning dirty.

Joanne Collins, Jakarta – Whether he wants to lead the world's newest nation or not, East Timor's independence hero Xanana Gusmao looks bound to get the job.

Jakarta – Indonesia's newest political party, the United Development Party for Reforms (PPP-R), Sunday announced its new leadership line-up.

Carol Pineau, Dili – East Timor's reluctant president-in-waiting Xanana Gusmao said on Wednesday he would do his best if voters, as expected, choose him to lead the world's newest natio

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Detained Parliamentary Speaker Akbar Tandjung looks set to be ditched by his Golkar party in a move to avoid a damning probe into a financial scandal that coul

Carol Pineau, Dili – Independence leader and presidential candidate Xanana Gusmao is no longer a national leader, East Timor Chief Minister Mari Alkatiri said ahead of April 14 election

East Timor4s presidential election campaign kicked off Friday with a rally in Dili and UN administrator Sergio Vieira de Mello predicting a peaceful race.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – In a bitter power struggle, young Golkar hardliners are fighting a move by the more senior members to expel detained party chief Akbar Tandjung.

Dili – A candidate in East Timor's upcoming presidential election on Tuesday announced a concession which will allow his only rival, independence hero Xanana Gusmao, to stand in the pol

Dean Yates, Jakarta – Indonesia's former ruling Golkar party said it would not withdraw its ministers from the coalition government despite the detention of its chief over a graft scand

Joanna Jolly, Dili – The United Nations is optimistic that a dispute threatening the participation of East Timorese independence leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao in the nation's fi

Dili – East Timor's reluctant presidential favourite, Xanana Gusmao, threatened Saturday to withdraw from next month's elections over an electoral technicality.

Jakarta – Around 100 PDI Perjuangan members from Surabaya, East Java, demonstrated at the party's headquarters on Jl.

Dominic Whiting, Bangkok – East Timor independence hero Xanana Gusmao, the front-runner to lead the nascent Southeast Asian state, said on Tuesday he wanted to be defeated in his countr

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – National Assembly Speaker Amien Rais has openly declared that he will quit the leadership of the National Mandate Party (PAN) in a move seen as a public relatio

Nusa Dua – Around 170 political parties have so far registered with the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights to contest the 2004 general election.

Joanna Jolly, Dili – Independence leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao, a potent symbol of East Timor's resistance during decades of Indonesian rule, on Saturday officially declared hi

Jill Jolliffe, Oecussi – East Timor's revolutionary hero, Xanana Gusmao, was met by enthusiastic village crowds this week as the stage was set for him to become president of the 21st ce

Dili – Francisco Xavier do Amaral, a Deputy Speaker of the Constituent Assembly, received a second nomination today for president.

Independence leader Xanana Gusmao said Wednesday he had not yet decided whether he would run for the presidency of East Timor in April 14 elections, adding that he would not bow to "pre

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – Even against a background of other political parties with noisy internal disputes, Golkar still manages to stand out in the face of the 2004 general elections, t

Jakarta – Indonesia's second largest and former ruling party, Golkar, has dismissed 16 senior members and suspended three others, it was announced.

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – As the beleaguered Golkar Party seeks to remove the thorn in its flesh, a party top official warned on Thursday of tough measures against staunch critic and seni

Francisco Xavier do Amaral, the vice-president of East Timor's Constituent Assembly, has registered formally as the first candidate in the territory's April 14 presidential election, el

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The next general election in 2004 is still a long way off, but political parties have been seen politicizing the severe floods in the capital city as clearly d

Tarko Sudiarno, Yogyakarta – Tension engulfed the tourist city of Yogyakarta on Sunday as hundreds of supporters of the United Development Party (PPP) clashed here with groups of local

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – A member of the General Elections Committee (KPU) urged the House of Representatives on Thursday to immediately revise the 1999 Election Law, or else the committ

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Indonesia's second-largest political party, Golkar, could be coming apart at the seams.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – A group of dissidents has accused the governing Fretilin party of trying to usurp democracy and remain in power for five years beyond its elected mandate.

Dili – East Timor has started preparing for its first presidential elections but with full independence to follow soon after, time is of the essence.

Jakarta – A faction from Indonesia's Muslim United Development Party (PPP) announced it was breaking away Sunday to form a new political group.

A'an Suryana and Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – An internal rift has cast a shadow over the planned Golkar Party executive board meeting early next month, which may be marked by talks on hol

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Indonesia's second-largest political party Golkar is going after President Megawati Sukarnoputri's husband for alleged corrupt business dealings and abuse of po

Dili – In a final step toward nationhood, East Timor will hold its first presidential election on April 14, the territory's UN administrator announced Thursday.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Signs of a crack in the coalition government between the largest and second largest party, which catapulted Megawati Soekarnoputri to the presidency last July,

Jakarta – The country's largest Muslim organisation, which founded the Nation Awakening Party (PKB), is giving up on attempts to reconcile two rival factions within the party.

East Timor's religious leader, Catholic Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, called Friday for the holding of legislative elections for the first post-independence Timorese parliament, instead o

East Timor's chief minister, Mari Alkatiri, Thursday denounced an unexpected call for legislative elections as an attempt by opposition forces to provoke a political crisis.

Jakarta – United Development Party (PPP) chairman Hamzah Haz, who is also the vice president, is scheduled to meet with Zainuddin MZ, leader of a PPP splinter group, in Surabaya on Jan.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri called on all government officials and civil servants to carry out all her decisions and not to hamper the implementati