East Timor: The key issues

The vote will be the first chance for the people of East Timor to say how they want to be ruled

By CNN's Joe Havely

(CNN) -- Voters in East Timor will go to the polls on August 30, 2001, two years to the day since the landmark referendum on independence from Indonesia.

An estimated 400,000 people are registered and entitled to vote out of a total population of 739,000. It will be the territory's first ever democratic election and an important step towards independence.

Turnout in 1999 was almost 99%, but with many East Timorese reported to have expressed fears that their vote will not count there are concerns that turnout will be much lower.

What's at stake?

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East Timorese will be asked to select 88 representatives from 16 parties to form an assembly that will then have 90 days to formulate a Constitution, the basis of law for a fully independent East Timor.

Contrary to the belief of many outsiders -- and many East Timorese themselves -- voters will not be electing East Timor's new president. That choice will be made further down the line.

Results from the hand counted ballot are not expected for at least a week after polling day.

Who is organizing the vote?

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has been created by the United Nations Transitional Authority (UNTAET), East Timor's de facto government, to organize and conduct the election.

East Timor is still picking up the pieces after the 1999 violence

In the run up to voting it has been engaged in a widespread program of voter education designed to ensure that democracy -- an entirely new concept in East Timor -- has as great a chance as possible of taking root in East Timor.

Overall, the IEC's mission is to lay the foundations for what it calls a "capable, efficient and transparent" government for East Timor.

Some 5,000 polling staff will manage the voting on election day itself, with more than 900 election monitors from more than 40 countries observing the process.

What are the prospects for violence?

Following the 1999 referendum and the overwhelming vote in favor of independence pro-Indonesian militias, armed by the Indonesian military, went on the rampage.

Hundreds of people are thought to have been killed, many women were gang raped, and homes and businesses were burned to the ground. About 90 percent of the territory's infrastructure is thought to have been destroyed.

With a strong international peacekeeping presence there has however been little violence in the run up to the election and efforts have been made to bring about reconciliation between pro-Indonesian and pro-Independence supporters.

Will East Timor rule itself after the election?

No. Full independence is not expected until sometime in 2002 although no formal date has yet been set.

However, it is unlikely that East Timor will come fully under the rule of East Timorese themselves for many years to come.

Because of the low levels of education there simply is not the skills-base to fully staff the administration, law enforcement and civil service needed to manage East Timor as a viable country.

The UNDP estimates it will be at least 10 years before East Timor has a sufficiently well trained indigenous bureaucracy

What's next?

The August 30 vote is merely the first step on East Timor's long-road to nationhood.

The territory was already one of the poorest in the world before the destruction wrought by the Indonesian withdrawal. With little in the way of infrastructure and potential income it will continue to rely heavily on outside aid for many years.

Unemployment, with all its associated social effects, is a massive problem because of many of East Timor's businesses and industries were leveled in the post-referendum violence.

After the election the challenges will only just be beginning.