Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Timor-Leste Has Made Significant Progress Towards Peace - UN
New York, Feb 22 2012 6:10PM
Timor-Leste has made
significant progress in strengthening national peace and
stability, the United Nations envoy for the country told the
Security Council today, noting that preparations for
presidential elections next month and legislative polls
later in the year are going smoothly.
Ameerah Haq, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of the UN Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT), told the Council in a briefing that 13 candidates, including two women, have been approved to run in the presidential election scheduled for 17 March.
The peacekeeping mission is due to wind up at the end of this year and Ms. Haq urged the Council to extend its current mandate, which is due to end next week, until 31 December. The Secretary-General will, after consulting with the Government formed after the elections, submit a report to the Council on his suggestions on UNMIT’s anticipated withdrawal and the scope of the UN’s future presence in Timor-Leste, she said.
“2012 is a critical year for Timor-Leste, marked by several key anniversaries, including the tenth anniversary of the restoration of independence,” said Ms. Haq.
“I am counting on this year giving us the opportunity to celebrate peaceful elections, an orderly transition to a new Government, continued stability and security and further development of PNTL [national police] technical capacities,” she said.
She said electoral management institutions are striving to ensure transparent and fair polls, stressing that their capacities have increased since 2007, resulting in decreasing levels of UN support.
“Still, the United Nations continues to provide integrated technical assistance through the joint UNDP [UN Development Programme] and UNMIT electoral support team,” said Ms. Haq.
She said presidential candidates and political party leaders have issued constructive messages about the need for peaceful elections, saying the messages are crucial to maintain public confidence in the elections and to ensure political stability.
The PNTL, with the support of UNMIT police, is getting ready to provide security during the electoral period, Ms. Haq told the Council. Both police services and other security forces have held theoretical and practical exercises to improve their readiness to maintain security during the elections, she said.
Timor-Leste’s President José Ramos-Horta, who also addressed the Council, said the political situation in his country has been “remarkably free of tension” in recent years.
“Ours is an open society. Transparency of our public life is a process that we set upon ourselves to promote and to deepen with the assistance of the international community,” he said.
On the UN presence in
Timor-Leste after UNMIT’s departure, Mr. Ramos-Horta said
that the emerging consensus is that the Organization’s
role could include support to further strengthen democratic
institutions, capacity-building on security, particularly
the national police, as well as continued assistance in
areas such as governance, justice and human rights.
Feb
22 2012 6:10PM
________________
For more details go
to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news
Follow us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/UN.News.Centre) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/UN_News_Centre)
ENDS
Department of Conservation: Cook Islands’ Atoll Officially Rat Free
Médecins Sans Frontières: MSF Ends Operation Of Its Search And Rescue Vessel With A Commitment To Return To Central Mediterranean Sea
People with Disability Australia: Government Response To ADHD Senate Inquiry Falls Short
Access Now: From Prison Sentences For Online Posts To Malicious Spyware Attacks, This Year’s IGF Host Is Entrenched In Abuse
Government of Vanuatu: At The ICJ, The Global South Has Presented A World Of Climate Change Impacts & A Dire Need For Climate Justice
OACPS: OACPS Statement On Members’ Testimony During First Week Of Landmark ICJ Climate Case