East Timorese kept what the UN has called a date with democracy yesterday, turning out in large numbers to vote in the first democratic election of their turbulent and bloody history.
After centuries of foreign occupation, the death of a quarter of the population and the near destruction of the territory, the election of a constituent assembly will bring closer the independence for which they have paid such a high price.
Fretilin, which spearheaded the fight for independence from Indonesia, is expected to win an overwhelming majority in the election, which is being contested by 16 parties and more than 1,000 candidates.
Yesterday was also the second anniversary of a UN-run ballot that rejected Indonesian rule and unleashed a fury of killing and destruction by pro-Jakarta militias backed by Indonesian troops.
Thousands turned out early for the ballot, dressed up for the occasion and anything up to 25km in the pre-dawn darkness from the mountains and hills.
Some came on crutches, others in wheelchairs and some used walking sticks. Queues, hundreds of people long, stretched out of polling stations, along dusty roads and into nearby fields.
"We are very happy," voter Mateus Amaro Braz said. "After 24 years we finally get to choose our future. We are not afraid of violence any more."
The UN put voter turnout at 93 percent.
Most businesses and schools shut down for the day. The polls closed by late afternoon, but voting continued at scattered stations for a few hours to allow people still waiting in line to vote.
Informal results are expected by about Sept. 5 and a formal tally on Sept. 10.
Lining up in the 30C heat with his Australian wife and baby son in his home village of Manatuto, a pretty seafront town about 40km east of the capital Dili, was voter number 0168677, East Timor's president in waiting, Xanana Gusmao.
* Eligible voters: 425,000
* Turnout: Estimated at 93 percent of all eligible voters
* Candidates: Sixteen party-affiliated and sixteen independent candidates
* Results: Unofficial returns are expected on Sept 5
Source: AP
"I am happy, happy for them because I feel that for them it is the beginning of a new life," said a beaming Gusmao, a poet turned guerrilla who is virtually certain to win a separate presidential election next year.
"I believe this will be very calm, very peaceful. It shows the maturity of our people. It means we have confidence in the future."
Despite fears of bloodshed and of raids by militiamen sheltering in Indonesian West Timor, the campaign has been remarkably peaceful and there were no reports of trouble as people waited patiently to cast their ballot.
"There ... was a kind of determination, but there also wasn't the tension," visiting US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James Kelly told reporters.
"It was just obvious people weren't afraid something bad was going to happen to them."
Chief UN electoral officer Carlos Valenzuela added:
"The people of East Timor, the parties and the candidates have once again proven they are determined to live together in a democratic society, respecting different points of view and working together to overcome the difficulties of the past."
The 88-member assembly will draw up a constitution, paving the way for choosing a president, most likely in another election by April, and ultimately independence.
Once a source of fabulous wealth for its Portuguese masters because of its sandalwood, East Timor has never known freedom.
Timor Island was carved up between the Dutch and the Portuguese after a long period of Portuguese control of the eastern half.
RSS