Grassroots opinion on East Timor's draft Constitution has been summarized by Constituent Assembly members over the last three days before a final debate on the document.

Assembly members split into three groups, visiting all of Timor's 13 districts between February 25 and March 2 and holding over 80 public meetings. A note sent to Lusa by the transition administration stated that among the wide range of opinions expressed during the consultation, various topics, such as the length of the consultation, merited more emphasis.

Popular opinion also referred to the date of independence, separation of church and state, presidential powers and the controversial transformation of the Constituent Assembly into the national parliament.

The reports will be presented to the Assembly Thursday along with suggestions made by civil society and the government. Suggestions for amendments will be noted and forwarded to the Standardization and Harmonization Committee in the Assembly.

This committee will decide which suggestions the full assembly will vote on next week Changes will be added to the draft document before a final vote on the full Constitution on March 13. This will be followed by a March 16 signing ceremony.

[According to sources who accompanied the Assembly members, local people expressed considerable dissatisfaction with the process by the Constitution was drafted and the limited amount of time allowed for community discussion. In many cases people were given copies of the Constitution only an hour before the Assembly members arrived. Many also asked why Assembly members had not visited the districts before saying that this is the first time they had showed any interest in their opinions. Another focus of concern was the decision to transform the Consultative Assembly into a legislative body after independence on May 20 rather than holding a separate election - James Balowski.]