Where are East Timor's women leaders?
21 8 2001
Where are East Timors women leaders? CIIR election observers to focus
on
women's participation
As the people of East Timor prepare to elect the countrys first
national
assembly since independence CIIR is sending an all-women team of
observers
to focus on womens participation. Catherine Scott reports.
Two years ago to the day that the majority of East Timorese voted for
independence from Indonesia, its people will return to the polls to
elect a
constituent assembly. On 30 August 2001 the electorate will vote for
an
88-member body charged with framing the new constitution. The assembly
will
have the power either to dissolve itself and call fresh elections, or
to
turn itself into the new government. Presidential elections are
expected to
follow.
Throughout the 25-year Indonesian occupation, East Timorese women
played a
crucial role in the organised resistance. For many their involvement
was a
life-changing experience that saw them assuming new roles, heading
families, and in some cases, taking on greater decision-making
capacity and
autonomy. With full independence around the corner, women are
resisting
pressure from a male-dominated society to be sent back to domestic
duties
and a reproductive role.
CIIRs observer mission, which will be in East Timor between 6 August
and 6
September, will be meeting with womens organisations, women
candidates,
political parties, and talking to ordinary women voters about the
issues
which concern them. The team will make regular reports to the UN
Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), under whose
auspices
the eleciton is taking place.
The East Timorese womens movement had by last year organised itself
into a
network (REDE) and had successfully brought pressure to bear in the
congress of the National Council of Timorese Resistance (CNRT) the
political umbrella body that coordinated the political campaign for
self-determination to pass a resolution safeguarding womens rights
according to international standards. The CNRT both recognised CEDAW,
and
pledged to use the convention as one of the foundation stones of the
new
constitution. However, the CNRT dissolved itself in June this year to
make
way for the various political parties which are now preparing to fight
the
election. It will be up to these parties, not all of which belonged to
CNRT, to deliver on promises to women.
Securing real change in favour of women is going to be an uphill
struggle.
In March REDE lost a battle to get legislation providing for a 30 per
cent
quota of women candidates on party lists in the August poll. The
proposal
was defeated in the National Council by an unlikely coalition of male
political leaders and young female councillors who had been convinced
that
quotas were an insult to women. Since this setback, womens groups have
concentrated on persuading parties to position female candidates high
on
their submission lists so that they stand a chance of gaining seats in
the
assembly.
Womens organisations, with the help of UNIFEM, and UNTAETs Gender
Affairs
Unit, have also arranged leadership training for women considering
standing
as political candidates.
Three women candidates are standing as independent candidates in the
districts, Olandina Caeiro, Teresa Carvalho, and Maria Domingas
Fernandes.
The election of one or all of the will not change the situation of
women
and most marginalised in Timor overnight, Caeiro told a reporter with
the
Portuguese News Agency, Lusa. But it would be a step towards dealing
with
unreasonable discrimination in East Timorese society, which is
profoundly
conservative and traditional, and in which women occupy a position of
subjugation, if we succeed in changing it just a little bit.
Talking about changing mentalities is easy, said Carvalho. Changing
them
in reality is much more difficult. The elections are an historic
opportunity for us to try to change the system from within, rather
than
constantly struggling as activists to get ourselves listened to.
The CIIR observer team includes: Mary Ann Stephenson, director,
Fawcett
Society, UK Maria Pakpahan, activist, Indonesia Irene Slegt,
journalist and
photographer Catherine Scott, joint programme manager, East Timor,
CIIR
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CIIR observer mission to East Timorese elections Press briefing
21 8 2001
CIIR ELECTION OBSERVER MISSION
EAST TIMORESE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS, 30 AUGUST 2001
The Catholic Institute for International Relations is sending a
delegation
of four people to observe East Timors first free and independent
elections.
The elections are scheduled to take place on 30 August 2001, two years
to
the day after the people of East Timor voted to end 25 years of
Indonesian
rule a vote that led to massive violence as the Indonesian army took
revenge.
2001 Constituent Assembly election
Preparations for the 2001 Elections are under way. Sixteen East
Timorese
political parties are preparing to fight for 75 out of 88 available
seats
on the constituent assembly. The remaining 13 seats will be directly
elected by the districts. The elected representatives will form a
government and set up a consultation process to frame a constitution.
Presidential elections will follow later. The National Council of
Timorese
Resistance (CNRT), the umbrella body which until recently united most
of
the political parties opposed to integration with Indonesia, formally
dissolved itself on 9 June. On 8 July, 14 of the registered parties
signed
a pact of national unity calling for peace and stability, and a
climate of
mutual respect and confidence. Campaigning began on 16 July.
In addition to the parties that pre-date the Indonesian occupation of
1976
(Fretilin, Timorese Democratic Union, Kota, Trabalhista, Apodeti) new
parties have sprung up. Some of these are splinters of old ones.
Others are
new, although they feature old faces and well-known figures from other
parties.
The political environment is fluid, with few written manifestos in
evidence
so far. Some commentators are concerned that personalities will
override
real issues. There are also worries that tendencies that coloured the
only
previous period when East Timor was free to organise politically
1974-75
may come back to haunt the elections. Some political violence has
already
occurred, as groups with dubious funding sources such as the CPD-RDTL
which
involves many well-known former collaborators with the Indonesians,
appear
to be bent on fomenting unrest.
In the provinces, in spite of a UN civic education programme, there is
widespread ignorance of what is happening. Many people in the villages
do
not understand the need for an election, arguing that they voted only
two
years ago. Others panic at the suggestion, as they associate elections
which massive violence and trauma.
The NGO Forum called for national consultations on the constitution,
so
that the peoples views would be incorporated as thoroughly as
possible. It
is disappointing that the political parties in the National Council
(the
36-member appointed body set up by the United Nations Transitional
Administration in East Timor, UNTAET, as a precursor to an elected
parliament) rejected the idea. Instead, constitutional commissions
have
been set up in each of the 13 districts. The NGO Forum has been
actively
involved in the UNTAET process of developing these, as well as in the
Civic
Education Working Group. The NGO forum had its own Civic Education
Working
group which advocated for the development of a community-based civic
education programme. UNTAET conducted a survey of knowledge of
democracy as
a basis for developing the programme. There is also an NGO group
working on
voter education.
Womens participation
Women campaigned for a minimum 30 per cent quota for female candidates
in
party lists, as agreed by the CNRT Congress and the first East
Timorese
womens conference last year. But in March the National Council blocked
the
proposal. Women have since been developing alternative strategies
designed
to ensure adequate participation by women in the elections, and have
been
urging political parties to place female candidates high on their
lists so
that women can enter the assembly. Three independent women candidates
are
running for district seats.
Clearly there is much preparation work to do. It is essential that the
first East Timorese election be seen to be free, fair and properly
organised guaranteed to the extent possible, by a reasonable
contingent
of foreign observers.
CIIRs 2001 election-observer mission
CIIR is planning an all women election-observer team which will make
it a
priority to investigate issues relating to womens participation and
representation in the political process and in political parties. The
team
will be accredited by the UNTAET Independent Electoral Commission,
which is
administering the election in East Timor.
The mission will monitor womens participation on polling day itself.
It
will provide information and analysis both to the UNTAET and UN
Electoral
Affairs authorities, as well as commentary to news media sources both
inside and outside the country.
The CIIR team will consist of the following members:
1. Mary-Ann Stephenson, Director, Fawcett Society (British)
Mary-Ann Stephenson is the Director of the Fawcett Society. Fawcett,
named
after Millicent Fawcett and the suffragists who helped win the vote
for
women in the UK, has campaigned for womens equality in the UK for 130
years. Mary-Ann has worked at the society since 1996, as Campaigns
Manager
before being appointed Director in May 1999. Previously she worked at
Liberty (the National Council for Civil Liberties) and the
international
human rights organisation, Article 19.
Mary-Ann has written numerous reports, articles and briefings on
womens
equality and is a frequent commentator on equality issues in the
national
media. Her report on the gender gap Winning Womens Votes was credited
with
putting women's voting patterns and political priorities on the
political
and media agenda at the 1997 general election. She is the author of
The
Glass Trapdoor: Women, politics and the media at the 1997 general
election.
She is a member of the management board of New Ways to Work, and the
steering committee of the Womens National Commission, the official
advisory body to government on the views of womens organisations.
2. Catherine Scott, Asia Policy Officer, CIIR (British)
Catherine Scott has been responsible for CIIRs East Timor Programme
since
1991. She has visited East Timor regularly since then, and published
many
articles, booklets and briefings on East Timor. The most recent, East
Timor: Transition to Statehood was published by CIIR earlier in the
year
and examines developments there from the perspective of women. She
edits a
quarterly newsletter, Timor Link, also published by CIIR. She is
co-founder
and chair of the Ai-Kameli Trust, an educational charity based that
provides East Timorese students with scholarships for undergraduate
study
based in the UK.
3. Irene Slegt, freelance journalist/photographer based in the UK
(Dutch)
Irene Slegt has worked for the Economist, the BBC, Visao, Radio
Netherlands
International, and many other international publications and media
stations. She is also an accomplished photographer. Her photographs
have
appeared in Der Spiegel, Asia Week, the Far Eastern Economic Review,
the
Guardian and the Independent. She has been based in a number of South
East
Asian countries, including Hong Kong, Mongolia and Cambodia, and more
recently, East Timor itself.
4. Ms Maria Pakpahan (Indonesian)
Maria Pakpahan is an Indonesian activist currently studying the
Enlightenment at the University of Edinburgh, before taking up a
teaching
post in Indonesia this October. She has an academic background in
development studies, anthropology and womens role in environmental
management. She has worked with a number of international NGOs,
including
Terre des Hommes in East Timor, as well as the United Nations World
Food
Programme. She co-founded in 1995, Tjoet Njak Dien, a womens NGO based
in
Yogyakarta, which focused on women workers, labour rights, and womens
economic, social and political rights.
CIIR staff in East Timor will support the monitoring team: Tonette
Velasco,
Ildefonso Guterres and Ivete DOliveira.
The missions terms of reference are as follows:
1. To assess whether the campaigning is being carried out in an
environment
that is conducive to freedom of expression, free from intimidation and
threat; and to monitor levels of violence where it is present.
2. To assess to what degree womens concerns, needs and interests are
to be
addressed by the political parties, and the degree to which womens
participation has been facilitated.
3. To assess the degree to which political parties have fully set out
their
programmes.
4. To assess the effectiveness of the civil and voter education
programmes
in preparing the populace.
5. Observe whether the election can be deemed free and fair
6. Communicate the teams concerns to the relevant authorities,
depending
on their nature.
7. Communicate the teams observations and concerns to the national and
international media via CIIRs London office, and to highlight
problems.
8. To point up longer-term issues of concern to East Timorese women,
and
put forward ideas for addressing these.
CIIR and East Timor
This project is part of CIIRs five-year programme called Womens
Rights,
Human Rights and Democracy in the Transition to Independence and
Beyond.
The programme aims to contribute to the establishment of an
independent
East Timor based on the principles of democracy, inclusiveness, human
rights, gender equity, sustainable development and the rule of law.
Our
particular aim is to empower womens organisations through building
advocacy capacity. We are also involved in sharing reconciliation and
peace-making methodologies from other parts of the world where CIIR
works.
CIIRs partners in East Timor include a number of NGOs, the NGO Forum,
the
East Timorese Womens Network, human rights and church organisations.
CIIR has had an advocacy programme in East Timor since the 1975
Indonesian
invasion. Through Timor Link, our quarterly newsletter on East
Timorese
affairs launched in 1985, and through our networking with church-based
groups and institutions internationally, CIIR kept the question of
East
Timor on the agendas of the worlds decision-makers throughout the
years of
the occupation.
In 1999 CIIR sent eight observers in two successive teams to monitor
the
Popular Consultation agreed to under the 5 May accord between Portugal
and
Indonesia under Kofi Annan. The teams included members of the House of
Commons and House of Lords, a former detective chief superintendent,
and
former observers of the independence elections in Namibia. They
provided
valuable analysis of the process to the United Nations Assistance
Mission
in East Timor (UNAMET) which was organising the ballot, and to the
British,
Portuguese and other governments who had contributed to the process,
or who
had influence over the East Timor situation. The visit was supported
by a
vigorous media campaign, in which CIIR gave radio and TV interviews
and
wrote to newspapers to publicise our findings. The missions work and
media
campaign were fully recorded in our report, East Timor: From Bullet to
Ballot, published in 2000.
Work in East Timor
Since the beginning of 2000, CIIR has been operational on the ground
in
East Timor, with a small office in Dili. During the past year we have
been
working to strengthen womens organisations through advocacy
capacity-building. We have internationalised the campaigns of REDE,
the
womens network, which recently mounted an unsuccessful campaign to
have
the notion of quotas for women accepted by the East Timorese National
Council.