[Poster's note: Repeats of international articles already sent out to the east-timor list (info@etan.org) have been removed.]

Friday, 23 March 2007

UNMIT ­ MEDIA MONITORING

THE UN INTEGRATED MISSION IN TIMOR-LESTE DOES NOT VOUCH FOR THE ACCURACY OF THESE REPORTS

National Media Reports

8 Presidential Candidates Start Their Campaign Today

The 8 presidential candidates today (Friday, 23/03/2007) start their political campaign to give self-confidence to voters before the Election Day (9/4/2007).

Francisco Guterres Lu-Olo started his campaign in Viqueque-Ossu, Avelino Coelho in Manatuto, Francisco Xavier do Amaral in Aileu, Manuel Tilman in Aileu, Lucia Lobato in Liquiãa, Jose Ramos Horta in Dili, João Carrascalão in Ermera and Fernando de Araujo Lasama in Suai-Covalima. (TP)

Horta: "I don't believe Alfredo will provoke the election."

Ramos Horta said that Alfredo's situation will not be permitted to give a negative effect to the process of election. (TP)

Members of Electoral Observers EU Arrived In Dili

The 28 members from Observation Mission of European Union (EU) arrived in Dili (22/3) yesterday.

The Observation Mission from EU is led by Javier Pomes Ruiz from Spain, a member of EU Parliament.

The EU mission is to observe the presidential election. The mission consists of 7 electoral experts and 28 long-term observers. (STL)

Justice Commission held meeting with Gangs Leader Bairo

The Justice and Peace Commission of Dili Diocese held a peace meeting with representative of Gangs Leaders in areas of Dili yesterday (22/03) at CRS, Bebora.

The meeting was led by President of Justice and Peace Commission of Dili Diocese, Father Cyrus V. Banque and was participated by the representatives of gang leaders from Bairo Lahane, Tasi Tolu, Kampung Alor, Lahane Oriental, Aimutin, Aitarak Laran, Bebonuk, Fomento and Manleuana. (STL)

Rogerio's Lawyer Officially Register Appeal

The Lawyer of former Interior Minister, Rogerio Lobato officially registered (No 443/PDD/2007 and process No. 82-2006 cases) or submitted appeal to Dili District Court on Thursday (22/03) as the response to the decision of Tribunal. After submitting the appeal, Rogerio's lawyer, Paulo Remedios demanded the Court of Appeal to observe or study the appeal by applying East Timorese law and not Portugal's law. (STL)

Ramos Horta: "Petitioners' problem must be resolved"

The independent presidential candidate, Ramos Horta (22/3) at Palacio das Cinzas promised that he will solve petitioners' and Alfredo's problem when becomes the President of Republic. (DN)

Eric Tan: 3400 Police officers guarantee the Security for the Election

The DSRSG of UNMIT, Mr. Eric Huck Gim Tan at a Press Conference (22/3) at Obrigado Barracks spoke about the security plan for upcoming presidential election.

To guarantee security for the event, there will be 3400 police officers deployed; consisting of 1000 UNPol and 2400 PNTL which had followed the triaging process of evaluations.

The 3400 police officers will be allocated to all polling stations throughout the districts, sub-Districts and Sucos.

He added that the principal tasks of UNPol and PNTL is to secure all the electoral equipment at the station center, provide security to voters and to respond to any incidents that might be occurred. (DN)

Claudio Ximenes; Has no Comment

The presidential election law which was amended on some articles from National Parliament (PN) a few days ago has been sent to Court of Appeal by Xanana Gusmão on Thursday (22/03) in order to get a decision.

Claudio Ximenes, the President of the Court of Appeal has refused to comment on the revised electoral law saying he needs to further study it and would then present it to the National Parliament

He said that the State should analyze then inform publicly whether the law is constitutional or unconstitutional before sending it to the Court of Appeal. (DN)

Father Martinho Gusmão: Using Attributes in Ballot papers, against Law

The amendment to some articles of the electoral law as using political symbols on ballot papers is against the law and could delay the upcoming election, said Father Martinho Gusmão, the spokesperson of CNE. (DN)

COMEG sends 1036 Observers for Presidential Election

The legal Officer of COMEG (Joint Monitoring of General Election), Jose Edmundo Caetano reportedly on Thursday (22/3) in Vila Verde-Dili said that COMEG is going to deploy 1036 observers to observe the upcoming presidential election which will be started from the campaign to the announcement of the result.

The observers will be allocated to the following districts: Dili (84 observers), Baucau (115 observers), Lautem (94 observers), Manatuto (62 observers), Viqueque (74 observers), Manufahi (42 observers), Ainaro (56 observers), Aileu (47 observers), Ermera (108 observers), Liquiãa (52 observers), Bobonaro (104 observers), Covalima (64 observers), and 134 as National Observers. (DN)

President calls Prime Minister for facilities problem at STAE and CNE

Xanana Gusmão called Ramos Horta on Thursday 22/03 to his office due to insufficient facilities of infrastructure being faced by STAE and CNE.

The decision made was that about 70 cars of ministries will be lent to STAE and CNE to run their activities. (DN, TP and STL)

TVTL- News Headlines

22 March 2007

President of the Republic Concern with CNE

President of the Republic, Xanana Gusmão is concerned with infrastructure means for CNE and STAE. Following the meeting with the President regarding this matter, PM Ramos-Horta said there are problems with Internet and vehicles in order for the two institutions to proceed with their work.

UNPOL and PNTL Ready to Provide Security

DSRSG Eric Tan said during a press conference in Dili today that over 3000 police both UNPOL and PNTL would be on duty to provide security during the election. Tan said F-FDTL would not provide security, as it does not have the mandate. He said more GNR have arrived to proved security.

GNR Donates Materials to Children

The Agrupamento Bravo of GNR today delivered materials to children, which have been collected from their own families in Portugal. The goods including clothes were brought by the police officers and handed to the children today at Mana Lu center in Dare.

Minister of Natural Resources Will Not Guarantee Electricity

Minister of Natural Resources, Jose Teixeira, said the EDTL would not guarantee electricity during the elections due to the old wiring.

International Water Day

To mark the international Water Day, Minister Jose Teixeira appealed to the population not to waste water and to notify the water department of any broken pipes on the streets. He said in the past five years about 46 % of households in Dili have access to clean water and the government program is also covering clean water to the population in the districts.

Four sub-villages (Aldeia) Pledges Not to Ever Engage in Violence

The Aldeia of Beto Tasi, Lurumata, Mate La Hakoi and Naroman held a traditional ceremony today (22/3) to pledge not to ever use violence, weapons against each other or use the words ‘lorosae-loromonu' in their communities. The ministry of Labor and Community Reinsertion and the police supported the event. (TVTL and STL)

International Media Reports

EAST TIMOR: NUMBERS OF DISPLACED CONTINUE TO SWELL, UN SAYS

New York, 22 March (AKI) - Although recent violence in East Timor appears to be abating, the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the capital, Dili, continues to rise, prompting the United Nations mission to the South-East Asian country to warn today of possible food shortages. Some 37,000 IDPs are now living in Dili, an increase of 8,000 since January; UN spokesperson Michele Montas told journalists in New York, citing recent informal studies.

She said the UN Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste is concerned that this sharp rise in IDP numbers could cause shortages of food, especially rice, which could then also exacerbate the IDP situation.

Thousands of people have fled their homes in recent months because of renewed violence both in Dili and outside the capital, although UNMIT reported that the past week had witnessed the fewest violent incidents of the last two months. UN Police stepped up patrols of Dili earlier this year in response to the violence.

Violence, attributed to differences between East Timor's western and eastern regions, also erupted in May and April last year when 600 striking soldiers, or a third of the armed forces, were sacked. In the ensuing clashes 37 people were killed and 155,000 people, or 15 per cent of the total national population, were driven from their homes.

The Security Council created UNMIT last August to help restore order after that bout of violence, especially in the run-up to this year's elections, the first round of which is scheduled for 9 April. These will be the first polls held in the tiny nation since it gained independence from Indonesia in 2002.

Ms. Montas said today that Timor-Leste is also still suffering from an outbreak of locusts, with more than 4,500 hectares of cropland in Bobonaro and Ermera districts, which are both west of Dili, affected.

The locust infestation could worsen the already precarious food security situation across the country, she added. (Fsc/Aki)

NATIONAL NEWS SOURCES: Timor Post (TP)

Radio Timor-Leste (RTL) Suara Timor Lorosae (STL) Diario Tempo (DT) Diario Nacional Seminario Lia Foun (LF) Televisaun Timor-Leste [TVTL]

UNMIT MEDIA MONITORING www.unmit.org