---------------------------------------------------------- FREE for JOIN Indonesia Daily News Online via EMAIL: go to: http://www.indo-news.com/subscribe.html - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - Please Visit Our Sponsor http://www.indo-news.com/cgi-bin/ads1 ++ Pemilu Online: http://www.indo-news.com/pemilu/ ++ ---------------------------------------------------------- Antara, 18 Juni 1999 RI Deplores UN's Unilateral Announcement on Balloting Day Postponement Jakarta, June 17 (ANTARA) - Indonesia deeply deplores the unilateral announcement made by the UN to postpone the East Timorese people's ballot on the wide-ranging autonomy package from August 8 to August 29, a government spokesman said Thursday. Dino Patti Djalal, spokesman of Indonesia's Task Force for the Implementation of the Opinion Assesment in East Timor (P3TT), said in Dili Thursday that Indonesia was not consulted about the delay and knew about it only from media reports. In a despatch from Sydney Thursday AFP reported that according to The Sydney Morning Herald, East Timor's self-determination ballot will be postponed for three weeks for security reasons. Quoting the UN sources who refused to be named, The Herald said in a front-page story that the autonomy vote was now likely to take place on August 29, instead of on August 8. Based on the agreement reached by Indonesia, Portugal and the UN secretary general at the UN Headquarters in New York in May, the direct ballot on the wide-ranging autonomy status - as offered by Jakarta - was to be conducted on August 8, 1999. "We really deplore it (the delay) because we were not informed officially. The UN should have consulted us first," Djalal said when contacted by 'Antara' by phone, adding that he got word about the postponement from the media. As the party responsible for the implementation of the ballot in East Timor, Djalal said, the United Nations should consult Indonesia about every matter, including the changing of the balloting day because the Indonesian government also had its own national agenda to attend to. The national agenda the Indonesian government was facing including the holding of the general session of the People's Consultative Assembly where President BJ Habibie would deliver his accountability, including about the results of the ballot in East Timor, to 700 members of the assembly. About security situation in East Timor cited as reason for the postponement, Djalal said this was unacceptable as it contradicted the facts in the field. According to Djalal, the security situation in the territory which had been a Portuguese colony for 400 years before integrating into the Republic of Indonesia in 1976, was now constantly improving. He said he had stayed in Dili for the past two weeks and during that period had heard acknowledgements from various sides that the security situation in Indonesia's 27th province has recently become much better. "Present security conditions are relatively good and conducive (for the implementation of the ballot)," he affirmed. To his knowledge so far, the UN Assessment Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) had reported 22 cases of law and order violations to the police. However, after being examined, only three of the 22 reported cases could be really catagorized as violations. "For example, cases involving the sending of threatening letters and fist fights cannot actually be catagorized as serious violations," he said, adding that it was rights of pro- integration people that were often violated by the pro- independence group. Therefore, Djalal said, he could not see any strong basis, for the United Nations to postpone the balloting day. Not Blaming UNAMET Although the UN's unilateral decision was to be regretted, Djalal said, he was not blaming the UNAMET, the UN team in East Timor led by Ian Martin. "I don't blame the UNAMET (as institution), but I regret the apparent presence of certain persons in the institution who have been making political interpretations and improvisations of the tripartite agreement among Indonesia, Portugal and the UN Secretary General," he said. Citing an example, he said that the UNAMET spokesman, David Wimhurst, had made a wrong interpretation by suggesting that Jakarta should release jailed anti-integration leader Xanana Gusmao before the ballot so that Fretilin leader could take part in the pre-balloting campaigns. "There is not a single word in the agreement (made by Indonesia, Portugal and the UN Secretary General) calling for the release of Gusmao," Djalal said. But the Indonesian government had actually agreed to set Gusmao free after the ballot, he said. (T.NN3/NN07/INT-AJM-00:34/NN01/01:07/TB02) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 21 Jun 1999 jam 12:43:17 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
