ROUNDUP: East Timor's Presidential Election Ends Peacefully

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, April 15, 2002

ROUNDUP: East Timor's Presidential Election Ends Peacefully

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East Timor's voters cast their ballots Sunday to elect a president, the final step toward nationhood for the territory after three centuries of Portuguese colonial rule, 24 years of Indonesian occupation and almost three years of temporary United Nations administration.

Voting was peaceful. It picked up during the day from an early slow pace, as people finished Sunday worship, and finished at 1600 p.m. local time (0700 GMT). With great efforts made by police force which was set up recently, no incident occurred.

Reflecting the good nature of the campaign, two presidential candidates, Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao and Francisco Xavier do Amaral, embraced before voting in the Santo Paulus school polling station in Dili, capital of East Timor.

Gusmao, 55, appeared more relaxed than Xavier, 66, as the two walked arm-in-arm to the station. The two left the station without making any comment. Gusmao's Australian-born wife Kirsty Sword also cast her vote there, accompanied by her young baby boy Alexander.

Pro-independence leader Gusmao, whose popularity extends across East Timor, has been widely tipped to sweep the polls.

"It is no secret who I voted for. Of course Gusmao is our leader, he led the resistance, so why not?" 80-year-old Teresa Alves Correia said.

Leandro Isaac, who is deputy chairman of the Social Democratic Timor Lorosae Party, said people had expected Gusmao to lead the new country because he had linkages with the history of the people of Timor Lorosae (East Timor).

"Gusmao has been talked about much by the majority of the people of Timor Lorosae and people have always said that he would be the right figure to lead the state of Timor Lorosae," he said.

Some analysts predict that Gusmao may end up taking 80 percent of the votes. Xavier, who served for nine days as president after Portugal withdrew in 1975 until Indonesia invades, has said he expected to lose the poll.

It was reported that the result will be announced on April 17 but indications of the likely winner are expected on April 16.

The vote is the third for East Timorese since 1999 when the United Nations organized a self-determination ballot in August that year that led to the territory separating from Indonesia after 24 years.

In August last year, East Timorese voted peacefully and in large numbers to elect an 88-member assembly that has since drawn up the country's first constitution.

Sunday's vote paved the way for East Timor to become the world' s newest country on May 20, when the U.N. administration hands over to an East Timorese government.

If Gusmao wins the election, he will have a full-time job getting the country back on its feet. It has the lowest per capita income in Southeast Asia. Most of the country's 740,000 people live in grinding poverty.

While scars of the militia violence are clearly visible in Dili, there is also plenty of reconstruction and signs the seaside city is returning to life. Cafes, beauty saloons and music shops are open for business and there are frequent traffic jams.

Progress in East Timor's outer reaches has been slower, with changes more cosmetic and rebuilding on a smaller scale.

The country has some oil and gas reserves, but little else it can export. Although the country has received millions of U.S. dollars in aid since 1999, it is expected to remain dependent on foreign aid for many years yet.

The International Monetary Fund's senior resident representative in East Timor Kadhim Al-Eyd said developing the private sector and attracting investment to help generate jobs would be the key to East Timor's survival post independence.

Gusmao in his campaign has promised if elected to open up the country to foreign investment and encourage reconciliation with former pro-Indonesian militiamen.

He stressed that boosting the poverty-stricken nation's economy would be his top priority.

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