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

The Constituent Assembly today approved a motion recommending that East Timor's first presidential election be held in the first or second week of April 2002, and that the voting proces

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – The country's highest electoral authority said on Thursday it would soon submit a new bill to the House of Representatives that would impose tighter require

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The National Awakening Party (PKB), under the leadership of Alwi Shihab, officially dismissed Matori Abdul Djalil on Thursday from the party for disloya

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Firm in its first vote on the contentious issue of presidential elections on Wednesday, the Golkar faction at the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Annual S

Jakarta – A majority of factions in Indonesia's top assembly have agreed to hold the country's first ever direct presidential election in 2004, although the format is still being debate

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Indonesians will find out next week whether they will be able to vote directly for their choices of president and vice-president in the 2004 election, after the

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – National Assembly chairman Amien Rais has quietly begun lobbying for the coveted presidential seat in 2004, making regular tours of Indonesian provinces as par

Jakarta – Ousted Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid has said that he is ready to run for the post again if there are no other candidates from his party.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – The election victory on August 30 of Fretilin, the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor, sent UN and World Bank officials in Dili into an instant poli

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – A battle is brewing in Parliament over a move to amend the constitution to enable Indonesians to directly vote for their President and Vice-President by the 200

[The following is the officially certified list of East Timorese who were elected to the Constituent Assembly on the August 30 ballot.

Jana DK, Dili – In its first major mobilisation since the beginning of East Timor's election campaign, on August 25 some 5000 Timorese Socialist Party members and supporters gathered at

Jon Land – Fretilin, the party which declared East Timor independent in 1975 and which was the largest single force in the long fight against occupation, has won 57% of the vote in the

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – There is a palpable mood of relief in East Timor this week after the election in which the country voted overwhelmingly in favor of the leftist nationalist party F

Mark Dodd, Dili – What's in a word? Quite a bit if you are considering running for president of East Timor.

Mark Dodd, Dili – Fretilin, the party that led East Timor's 24-year struggle for independence from Indonesia, has won the fledgling nation's first democratic election.

• Total Votes Cast: 384,248
• Total Valid Votes: 363,501
• Invalid Votes: 20,747

National Ballot

Despite its decision to contest the election process, East Timor's UDT party congratulated Thursday the Fretilin party for its victory in last week's voting for the 88-member Constituen

Dili – The Chief Electoral Officer of the East Timor's Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), Carlos Valenzuela, today presented the full and final results of the 30 August Constituent

Results of last week's elections in East Timor indicate that the territory's new 88-seat Constituent Assembly will have a total of 24 women members.

The leader of East Timor's ASDT party, Fransico Xavier do Amaral, told Lusa Wednesday in Dili that he would not be a future candidate for president.

For Fretilin [East Timor Revolutionary Front] – the party most likely to win the recent Timor Lorosae (TL) elections – there are three main things which need to be maintained [from 1975

Xanana's interview with Tempo magazine:

Tempo: At first you dithered on being nominated as president. But you changed your mind later. Why?

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

Dili – The winners of last week's historic election in East Timor must listen to the people when drafting a constitution as a prelude to independence, two watchdog groups said Monday.

Presenter: Sergio Vieira de Mello, head of UNTAET, the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor, has replied to the fraud accusations, made by UDT (Timorese Democratic Union) leader

Lindsay Murdoch in Liquica and agencies – East Timorese kept what the United Nations had called a date with democracy yesterday, voting in the first democratic election of their turbule