Mark Dodd, Dili – The United Nations mission in East Timor will remain until the vote on self-determination for the violence-prone province is completed successfully, a senior UN spokesman said yesterday.
"We're here until it's done, even if it is postponed," said Mr David Wimhurst, the spokesman for the UN Assistance Mission to East Timor.
Mr Wimhurst said there was no question of the historic referendum being cancelled but the scheduled August 8 date could be changed if UN monitors decided the security position was not conducive to the holding of a "free and fair" election. One of the biggest worries for the UN mission is the persistence of violence and intimidation, mostly perpetrated by pro-Indonesian militia groups who have vowed to defend at all costs autonomy within Indonesia. More than 100 people have died as a result of political violence since January when President B.J. Habibie first raised the prospect of an act of self-determination for the 800,000 people in East Timor.
The UN-organised ballot offers voters on this half-island territory a choice of a wide-ranging autonomy or, if that is rejected, outright independence subject to approval from Indonesia's new Parliament.
On Tuesday, senior UN officials in Dili met the political leadership of the pro-Indonesia umbrella group, FPDK.
Mr Wimhurst said that under the UN accords on East Timor, signed by Portugal and Indonesia on May 5, campaigning for either independence or autonomy will run from July 20 until August 5. "We've made it very clear to them there can be no campaigning on the question of autonomy [until July 20]," Mr Wimhurst said. "We believe they have understood that message. It was a useful meeting.
"We've already met with the students and explained our impartiality. We ran through the same scenario with the FPDK as the people on the independence side." The UN has also complained to Indonesian police about pro-autonomy banners erected across Dili streets linking the UN with support for the pro-Indonesian side. "We want those banners to come down," Mr Wimhurst said. "Wherever they may be, we want them removed."
Meanwhile, the UN mission continues to gather strength and form. A widespread voter education campaign has begun with television and radio broadcasts explaining the UN mission to East Timor. This will be extended to include the print media with information carried in Indonesian, Portuguese and the local Tetum language.
Eligible voters will be registered between June 13 and July 17 in 200 centres across East Timor. Voters must be at least 17 years old, born in East Timor or have at least one parent born here or be married to someone born in East Timor.
In the main warehouse at Dili port, spray painters are busy fixing UN markings on 25 four-wheel-drive vehicles which arrived from Darwin on Monday. Another giant Russian cargo jet is expected to arrive at Baucau military airport tomorrow with 25 tonnes of equipment. However, the arrival of a UN helicopter from Australia has been delayed because of Indonesian bureaucratic delays over its intended flight path.
A flag-raising ceremony outside the new UN headquarters at a teacher training college in Dili is scheduled for Monday. The head of the UN mission, Mr Ian Martin, arrives on Saturday.