PRESS BRIEFING BY FORMER SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR EAST TIMOR

PRESS BRIEFING BY FORMER SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR EAST TIMOR

Ian Martin, the former Special Representative of the Secretary-General for East Timor (UNAMET), told correspondents this afternoon at a Headquarters press briefing that the free elections held in the country on 30 August occurred two years to the day after the East Timorese voted for independence.  This time, he noted, the ballots were cast without the threat of imminent violence.

With Mr. Martin, who now serves at the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia, was David Malone, President of the International Peace Academy.  Mr. Martin was announcing the publication of his new book, "Self-Determination in East Timor: The United Nations, the Ballot, and International Intervention". 

The book, he said, posed and attempted to answer several questions, among them: How did the push for self-determination in East Timor come about?  How did the United Nations organize a ballot when experts insisted that it was not a realistic goal?  How did the international community reach rapid consensus on military intervention?  And why was the extent of the violence after the vote for independence not foreseen?

There was no possibility, Mr. Martin said, of having peacekeepers on the ground in time for the 1999 vote, yet the East Timorese could not miss the window of opportunity to vote for independence.

Violence, he continued, was expected, but the book also explores what more the United Nations could have done to lessen the impact of violence.  The ultimate judge of the United Nations, Mr. Martin said, would be the East Timorese people, who waited 24 years for them, and the ultimate test would be how successfully East Timor progressed as an independent State.

Mr. Martin hoped that people would notice the difference between the votes of 1999 and 2001, and surmise that an international presence was needed there. "I hope you'll think to the future and the responsibility of the international community", Mr. Martin said.

Asked why there was such a shock at the amount of violence in 1999,     Mr. Martin noted that the Indonesian Government held an election in June 1999 in which violence had been expected, but none had erupted.  That, he said, led to much underestimation about the level of violence that was to come.

However, he pointed out that there was enormous apprehension before the election last month that there would be more violence, and there was none.    Mr. Martin called that "an important psychological breakthrough".

Mr. Malone, said there had been a push by some members of the Security Council to downsize the peacekeeping forces in East Timor.  But there was still a contemporary risk.  Although there would be a temptation to relax because things were going well, it had to be remembered that there was a very large, very powerful neighbour who had not wished them well.

A final question was asked about the agreement reached with Australia about the proceeds that East Timor would receive from Timor Gap oil field, and how those funds would be spent.

Mr. Martin said East Timor would receive 90 per cent of the proceeds, but he was not sure how the money would be invested.  Although the money would not be received for at least four years, it was going to be important to the economic vitality of East Timor.

Mr. Malone, meanwhile, cautioned that oil was both a boom and bust industry, and that East Timor should not solely depend on it for its principal industry.  Governments which relied principally on oil revenue for their economies generally fared poorly.  The challenge to East Timor would be to diversify its economy.

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