[Kabar-indonesia] SOMET Congratulates the People of Timor-Leste on Parliamentary Election

[John M Miller]

SOMET Congratulates the People of Timor-Leste on Parliamentary 
Election as Observers Monitor Counting

Contact: Dili: Jill Sternberg or Santina Soares +670-331-3324 or 
+670-734-2535 or +670 727 9574; email: somet at etan.org

Bronwen Thomas (media liaison) +670 734 9979

International: John M. Miller, +1-718-596-7668; +1-917-690-4391; john at etan.org


For Immediate Release: 4 July 2007

Last Saturday's parliamentary election in Timor-Leste was largely 
free, fair and peaceful, according to preliminary conclusions by the 
international Solidarity Observer Mission for East Timor (SOMET).

"Despite some minor problems, our observers report that East Timorese 
voters went to the polls in large numbers to peacefully exercise 
their right to vote," said Jill Sternberg, the Dili based 
co-coordinator of SOMET.

The SOMET team dispatched 48 accredited, nonpartisan observers to all 
thirteen districts of the country.

Observers from ten different countries, including Timor-Leste, have 
been monitoring the entire electoral process by attending campaign 
events, meeting with party leaders, observing the voting process on 
election day and now observing the counting and tabulation process. 
SOMET Observers will continue to be stationed in district centers as 
all votes are counted. Complete results are not expected until later 
this week, and will likely be certified next week.

SOMET congratulates the people of Timor-Leste for overcoming 
significant obstacles to carry out their first Parliamentary 
election. Timor-Leste organized it's own national elections for the 
first time this year and it marks a significant step in their post 
independence development.

The election was carried out largely without violence to deliver a 
result that will reflect the will of the voters. Most polling staff 
observed performed ably, impartially and conscientiously both on 
election day and during the long process of counting. Voters were 
patient and committed, and nearly all knew how to participate in this 
free and fair democratic election.

"Given recent turbulence which shook the confidence of many Timorese 
in their new state, the success of this election is a significant 
accomplishment." says Jill Sternberg.

"The East Timorese, who for so long had been denied a democratic 
voice, have come out in strength and confidence to choose their 
leaders. We congratulate the voters and the electoral staff for this 
significant step in nation building".

Timor-Leste will have future elections, including local elections 
scheduled to take place in 2008. SOMET will issue a report 
highlighting areas that could be improved. Some of its most important 
observations include:

* Timorese voters and partisans were largely peaceful and responsible 
in their behaviour. International and Timorese police generally 
performed well, although SOMET observed some instances of 
inappropriate deployment of police and international soldiers.

* SOMET remains concerned that the change of location for counting 
ballots from polling station to district centers reduces the 
transparency of the process and severely limits the ability of people 
to review the results, lessening confidence that they reflect the 
will of their fellow citizens. SOMET urges a return to polling center 
counting for future elections. The new counting process had a number 
of design flaws and election staff had not been adequately trained on 
it, resulting in delays and confusion. In addition, restrictions on 
the numbers of party agents and observers in the counting centers 
made it impossible for them to monitor the entire counting process, 
resulting in protests, with relaxation of the limitations in some districts.

* SOMET observers witnessed polling stations where political party 
and candidate agents were too numerous, or appeared to try to 
influence voters or intervene in the electoral process. Polling 
Center staff often had trouble dissuading agents from engaging in 
inappropriate actions.

* In some polling centers and district tabulation centers, closing 
and counting processes deviated from the regulations. It seems the 
standards are unclear and that more training is required.

* Measures to guard against double-voting were often not followed, 
especially checking a voter's hands for ink before allowing them to 
vote. There have been reliable reports of a few occurrences of people 
attempting to vote more than once.

* SOMET did observe a few brief disruptions to voting, caused by both 
occasional shortages of materials and in one incident an angry voter.

* SOMET was pleased that mobile voting stations allowed for 
hospitalized and imprisoned citizens to vote in this election. The 
Constitution of Timor-Leste states that all citizens 17 years and 
older have the right to vote. Unfortunately, citizens abroad, 
including those serving the government, are still not able to 
exercise in this right.

* SOMET repeats its recommendation that future elections should be 
administered by an independent agency that is not under the 
jurisdiction of any government ministry.

SOMET will soon issue a full report on the 2007 Parliamentary 
election focusing on voter education, campaigning, voting and 
counting, as well as implementation of the results. Previous SOMET 
reports from each round of the Presidential election are available 
online in English and Tetun at 
<http://etan.org/etan/obproject/default.htm>http://etan.org/etan/obproject/default.htm. 


SOMET's teams consist of international observers and trained national 
observers drawn from seven co-operating groups within Timor-Leste. It 
is a grassroots project of the U.S.-based East Timor and Indonesia 
Action Network (ETAN), Free East Timor Foundation (VOT ) in the 
Netherlands, Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID) and Asia 
Pacific Solidarity Coalition (APSOC) in the Philippines and the World 
Forum for Democratization in Asia (WFDA).

SOMET was formed at the invitation of civil society organizations in 
Timor-Leste to support a transparent, free and fair election process. 
SOMET has partnered with nonpartisan East Timorese observers 
including HAK Association, Timor-Leste NGO Forum, La'o Hamutuk, 
FOKUPERS, KSI, Bibi Bulak and Concern Worldwide.


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John M. Miller         Internet: fbp at igc.org
National Coordinator
East Timor & Indonesia Action Network (ETAN)
PO Box 21873, Brooklyn, NY 11202-1873 USA
Phone: (718)596-7668      Fax: (718)222-4097
Mobile phone: (917)690-4391  Skype: john.m.miller
Web site: http://www.etan.org

Send a blank e-mail message to info at etan.org to find out
how to learn more about East Timor on the Internet

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