15 April 2002

Dare, East Timor: UN Volunteer district electoral officers (DEOs) and East Timorese colleagues opened 282 polling centres Sunday for East Timor's first-ever presidential elections. It was the third ballot in East Timor since 1999 that was organized with broad support from the Bonn-based UN Volunteers programme (UNV).

Since January, 150 UN Volunteers from more than 50 countries and 150 national DEOs serving within the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) have worked to prepare for the elections. On Monday, the DEOs joined efforts to count the ballot. Results are expected to be announced on 17 April.

"This election has been a real challenge to put together under these circumstances of a very short electoral calendar and during the rainy season," said Ray Kennedy, the IEC senior electoral officer. "We could not have done it and we could not have brought our East Timorese counterparts so far in their capacity building without the hard work of our UN Volunteers," he added.

Initial reports indicate a peaceful election with an estimated turnout rate of 86 per cent. Xanana Guzmao and Francisco da Amaral are the only presidential candidates. Each hopes to take office on 20 May 2002, the day the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) will hand over authority to the newly independent East Timor.

Early Sunday morning, voters in the mountain village of Dare in central East Timor stood patiently in line to elect their president.

"I'm voting for the first time", said Vitorino Da Silva. "We will finally choose -- ourselves -- the leader of the nation."

As daylight slowly entered Dare's school building, UN Volunteer June Harre of New Zealand and her East Timorese colleagues sealed the ballot boxes and carried out last-minute preparations before voters began to stream into the polling centre. The UN Volunteer was in Dare to help organize the 1999 pro-independence referendum and again in 2001 for the Constituent Assembly elections.

"It is a great feeling," she said. "Most of my colleagues were with me in 1999 and last year; they have all the responsibility now. I'm confident that for the next elections they will need no international assistance."

In the village of Maubissi, UN Volunteer Etienne Manyo from Germany helped voters at a local church. "We had a busy first hour, now we are waiting for a second wave of voters," he said. "This is going to be a new beginning for East Timor -- I hope a positive one."

UNV staff member, Christoph Beck, said he felt "privileged to be here to see UN Volunteers from all around the world recruited by our office. It shows the results of our work”.