---------------------------------------------------------- Visit Indonesia Daily News Online HomePage: http://www.indo-news.com/ Please Visit Our Sponsor http://www.indo-news.com/cgi-bin/ads1 ---------------------------------------------------------- Megawati clears way to Indonesia accepting Timor vote: Australian FM BALI, Indonesia, July 29 (AFP) - Opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri's decision to accept the result of East Timor's vote on its future clears the way for Indonesia to ratify it, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said here Thursday. "If Megawati is prepared to accept the result of a free and fair ballot, I think it would be certain that President Habibie's Golkar would," Downer said in an interview on this resort island. "In those circumstances you could be pretty confident the MPR would accept the result of the ballot whichever way it went," said Downer, who was speaking during an overnight stop in Bali en route to East Timor. The MPR, the People's Consultative Assembly, is Jakarta's highest legislative body. It is scheduled to vote in November on whether to accept the outcome of the August 30 East Timor poll. In the ballot, East Timorese will be asked to decide whether they want to accept or reject an Indonesian offer of autonomy under the Indonesian flag, or opt for independence. If the vote is for independence, Indonesian President B.J. Habibie has said if the MPR accepts it, Indonesia would let East Timor go. Asked if he thought the MPR vote was now less of a factor in the future of the troubled former Portuguese colony, which was invaded by Indonesia in 1975, Downer replied: "Yes I do." Megawati, whose Indonesian Democracy Party-Struggle (PDIP) won June 7 Indonesian elections with 33.7 percent of the popular vote, has made it no secret she disagreed with Habibie's decision to put the issue to vote. But on Thursday, in her first public political statement since the June elections, she said all Indonesians were bound by the agreement and that she would accept the results of the vote -- whichever way it went. "It is not my intention not to respect the decision of the people of East Timor in determining their own future through a referendum," Megawati said in a nationally televised speech. "Whatever agreement has been signed between the government of Indonesia and Portugal pertaining to the referendum in East Timor, it is of a nature that binds all the Indonesian nation." But she ruled out similar referendums anywhere else in Indonesia, including in Aceh and Irian Jaya, two troubled areas where separatist movements are active, and hit out at the government's use of force in Aceh. The ruling Golkar party, which is still hoping to win the presidency with the help of allies in the November MPR session, despite Megawati's poll win, is expected to follow Habibie's wishes, barring a major policy change. Habibie is Golkar's candidate for the presidency. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 30 Jul 1999 jam 04:23:23 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
