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

The elections in the UN-run territory are scheduled for April 14 with formal independence due to be declared on May 20.

"Due to time constraints, we cannot do a run-off election. For this time, it will be the person getting the highest number of votes," UN electoral official Carlos Valenzuela said on Friday.

The draft constitution calls for the president to be elected by a majority of voters, or 50 percent plus one. It also states there should be a run-off election between the two highest vote getters if no candidate wins a majority.

Charismatic independence hero Xanana Gusmao, who once led the now demobilised Falintil guerrillas, is almost certain to be elected to lead the fledgeling nation.

It is unclear how many candidates will stand.

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) held a series of electoral briefings in East Timor this week to explain voting regulations recently approved by the constitutional assembly.

Officials have said around 420,000 Timorese – around half the population – are eligible to vote for the new president, due to be announced within a week of the elections.

East Timor is still recovering from an overwhelming vote to break from 24 years of Indonesian rule, a result which unleashed a wave of violence across the territory by pro-Jakarta militia.

Some 1000 people were estimated to have been killed in the violence and thousands were herded across the border into Indonesian West Timor.