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Ramos Horta criticizes attitude of UDT leader

Lusa - September 3, 2001

Jose Ramos Horta said Monday in Dili he was "profoundly sad" about the "unhappy", "lamentable" and "incendiary" criticism of the East Timorese election process leveled by the leader of the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT), Joao Carrascalao.

In comments to Lusa, the foreign minister in East Timor's transition administration likened the UDT leader's attitude to that of rebel leader Jonas Savimbi in Angola. "It was Joao Carrascalao himself who more than once compared East Timor to Angola. There is no possible comparison. I can only recall that Jonas Savimbi also refused to accept the result of elections in Angola", Ramos Horta said.

His reaction followed Joao Carrascalco's weekend announcement that the UDT would contest the results of the Thursday Constituent Assembly elections in East Timor. "The UDT considers that the election process was conducted by personnel of the Independent Election Commission in a manner that was very unprofessional, immature, negligent and irresponsible", Joao Carrascalao charged.

The UDT leader made reference for the first time to the brief civil war in 1975 and forecast violence after results of last Thursday's ballot are announced. He also criticized the Fretilin party, shown with 20 percent of the vote counted to have obtained about half the votes, urging the UN

to investigate the 1974-75 period in East Timor, to prevent East Timor from being governed by "criminals".

The territory's UN transition administrator, Sergio Vieira de Mello, has also reacted strongly, saying Saturday that Joao Carrascalao's statements were "alarmist" and "totally against the spirit of the national unity pact signed by the parties". "The ballot boxes will speak. If Joao Carrascalao or any other person has any irregularity to report, it will be assessed by the Independent Electoral Commission. That's how democracies function", the Brazilian UN diplomat said. "Waking up old demons is not in the interest of this country and this people, who have shown that they are not interested in opening up the wounds of the past", he stressed.