We should not have very high expectations that elections in Timor Leste’s post conflict situation will be simple or be conducted smoothly. A tiny beautiful country with less than one million population struggled to organize elections for the first time and in the process many lessons were learnt by the Election Commission (CNE) and local organizations such as KOMEG and Women Caucus. All were aware of the difficulties in setting up systems for exercising their electoral rights at a time when society was still going through internal conflict. Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) congratulates its local partners, networks, trainees and the Timorese people for the high eighty two percent voter turn out. This report not only shows how people of Timor Leste voted for the April 9th Presidential Election but also shows how the electoral system makes it possible for the winner of the first round to lose to another person in the second round. ANFREL has also sent a second mission to observe the Parliamentary Election on 30th June 2007.
Resources :
PDF : Final Report of International Observation Mission 1999 (ANFREL)
PDF : Final Report of International Observation Mission on Constituent Assembly Elections 2001 (ANFREL)
PDF : 1st Round Presidential Election Observation Mission Report (ANFREL: 2007)