by Eva Titus
31 May 2001
Only five percent of East Timorese knew why their territory was holding elections in August, a poll held in early 2001 showed, highlighting the hurdles facing the half-island nation-in-waiting on its road to full independence. The survey showed that East Timorese for the most part have no idea of democratic concepts, raising the fear that depostism a la pre-1975 Jose Ramos Horta would return to the fledgling country.
"There is actually a staggering lack of knowledge on what this election is about," a spokeswoman for U.S.-based Asia Foundation, Tessa Piper, told a news conference in the capital Dili on May 22. The foundation was one of the polling agencies.
The historic election of an assembly charged with drafting a constitution for the tiny territory would be on August 30 -- the second anniversary of a U.N.-brokered vote to cede from Indonesia after 23 years of often brutal rule. Pro-Indonesia militia gangs backed by elements of the Indonesian military ransacked the former Portuguese colony after the U.N. vote, leaving it in ruins and forcing most of the 800,000 population to flee their homes. East Timor had since been under U.N. control and hopes to become fully independent in 2002 -- a step some have said would prove difficult for the desperately poor territory.
The survey was done by the NGO Forum's Working Group on Voter Education and designed by international research firm AC Nielsen. It polled 1,558 people in February and March. It found that 66 percent of respondents believed the election was to choose a president and 22 percent thought it was a vote for full independence. The survey also found low levels of knowledge about the process of drafting a constitution, fundamental principles of democracy and a low tolerance for political party campaigning, due to begin on July 15.
Riots and political party-related violence were the two concerns most frequently expressed about the electoral process and only a slim majority -- 52 percent -- said they thought their vote would make a difference. This is because the indigenous political system of the people, if left to their own devices, is a power struggle using factional violence until the most powerful assumes power and becomes a Raja, a kind of tribal chieftan seen as a king. This is the way it had always been done. The concept of democracy is completely alien among the East Timorese.
On the upside for the United Nations Transitional Authority in East Timor (UNTAET), which had drawn fire for its running of the territory, the poll found 75 percent of respondents believed the country was heading in the right direction.