Lurdes Silva-Carneiro de SOUSA, Lusotopie 2001 : 299-311
Some Facts and Comments on the East Timor 2001 Constituent Assembly Election*
The signing of the New York Agreement between Indonesia and Portugal marked a turning point in East Timor's History. On 5th May 1999, by this agreement, Indonesia and Portugal entrusted the Secretary-General of the United Nations with the organisation and conduc¬ tion of a popular consultation, aiming at asking the East Timorese people if they would accept or reject a status of special autonomy for East Timor within the unitary republic of Indonesia. To carry out this consultation, the Security Council established the United Nations Mission in East Timor (Unamet) on 11 June 1999.
A Brief Panorama of the Involvement of the United Nations in East Timor since 1999
Unamet registered 451 792 voters amongst a population of over 800 000 in East Timor and abroad. Voting day took place on 30th August, and some 98 % of the registered voters went to the polls, expressing by a margin of 78.5 % the rejection of the status of the proposed autonomy and thus deciding to begin a process towards independence1.
On 19th October 1999, the Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly formally recognised the result of the consultation and on 25th October by resolution 1272 (1999) of the Security Council, the United Nations Transitional Authority in East Timor (Untaet) was established. Its mandate
* This is an abbreviated version of the original text from Nation-building in East Timor, Proceedings of the international seminar organised by the Portuguese Center for the Study of Southeast Asia (Cepesa) and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), Lisbon, 21-23 June 2001, Edition of the Portuguese Center for the Study of Southeast Asia, to be published. All data presented regarding election figures has been collected from the Independent Electoral Commission official data.
1. The results were as follows : 344 580 (78.5 %) against the Indonesian proposal and 94 388 (21.5 %) for the proposal.
