Bahasa Indonesia Headlines ­ Thursday 19 July 2001

1. UN staff shot at in Baucau 
2. IEC rejects 73 Constituent Assembly candidates 
3. PST does not want Constituent Assembly to be like National Council 
4. Bishop Belo: Civpol must be serious about investigating TNI uniforms case

1. UN staff shot at in Baucau (Suara Timor Lorosae, front page headline)

An international UNTAET staff member was shot at on Saturday (14 July) in Baucau when he was travelling in a United Nations Landrover from Viqueque to Dili.

Robert A. Adelbiyi, a Nigerian national working as a Field Administration Officer in Viqueque, told the STL that the shots were fired by an unknown person when his vehicle reached the Baucau Kota Baru market.

“I arrived at Baucau about 5:30 in the evening on Saturday from Viqueque. Because it was still a long way from Baucau to Dili, I was driving fast. When my vehicle reached the Baucau Kota Baru market, suddenly shots were fired in my direction from the left. I quickly jumped out of the Landrover and took cover. I was shocked,” he said.

The UN Landrover had a bullet hole in it.

Adelbiyi said this was the first time such an incident happened to him.

“It was lucky that I managed to jump out of the Landrover fast,” he said.

The matter was reported to Civpol Baucau District and investigations are currently going on.

2. IEC rejects 73 Constituent Assembly candidates (Suara Timor Lorosae, front page second lead)

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) rejected 73 candidates nominated to contest in the 30 August election.

IEC spokesperson Jorge Gusman told the press on Tuesday that the candidates were rejected because they did not submit the requisite documents within the required deadline.

“In most of the cases they were nominated to stand in districts where they were not residents,” said Gusman.

“In some cases,” added Gusman, “the candidates did not register themselves before the 23 June deadline.”

At the national level only PPT, Fretilin, PST, Kota, PTT, PL and Apodeti managed to get all their candidates registered with the IEC. In the districts, only PDM and PTT did not have any candidates rejected by the independent body.

According to IEC records, 27 national candidates were rejected and in the districts 46 candidates. On the other hand, there was an independent candidate named Augusto Mendoga who was also nominated by a political party. Augusto’s application was rejected by the IEC.

3. PST does not want Constituent Assembly to be like National Council (Timor Post, front page headline)

Avelinho Coelho, the secretary-general of the Timor Socialist Party (PST) said the Constituent Assembly to be formed after the 30 August election must not be structured like the now-dissolved National Council.

He said under the NC, it was UNTAET which was actually holding power rather than the people.

“The regulations that were passed in the NC reflected the needs of the administration and not that of the people. These regulations did not take into account actual realities,” said Avelino.

Avelino, a former NC member, said he did not want to be nominated as a candidate for the Constituent Assembly because he was wary it might be like the National Council.

“I do not want to be in a so-called legislative body where I will be used as a rubber-stamp and cannot perform my duties as a people’s representative,” he added.

Though Avelino said he was not a candidate, he, however, would support other PST candidates to the Constituent Assembly.

He said PST would begin organizing labourers and farmers because they were the most downtrodden in the country.

4. Bishop Belo: Civpol must be serious about investigating TNI uniforms case (Timor Post, front page second lead)

Dili Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo made a call to Civpol yesterday to be serious in investigating the case where TNI uniforms were discovered as air-cargo at the Komoro airport last week.

Bishop Belo said Civpol must identify the party which imported these Indonesian military uniforms so that they do not cause mischief in the period leading up to the 30 August election.

“The function of Civpol, Border Control Service and PKF is to ensure that no dangerous things enter the country to endanger our security,” he said.

“It’s for Civpol to investigate to which party those uniforms were meant for. They must be serious in investigating the matter.”

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