EAST TIMOR DISMISSES ELECTION FEARS

Poll worries: East Timor President Jose has dismissed fears the country will see a return of turmoil and violence ahead of elections next year. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

COURRIER MAIL - AFP

EAST Timor's President has dismissed fears the country will see a return of violence ahead of elections next year.

President Jose Ramos-Horta, 61, who has held his post since 2007, also said yesterday that he was "reluctant" to seek a second term and was considering stepping aside.

Oil-rich East Timor won formal independence in 2002, three years after a UN-backed referendum that saw an overwhelming vote to break away from Indonesia, whose 24-year occupation cost an estimated 200,000 lives.

Formally known as Timor-Leste, the country has been largely peaceful since 2006, when rioting and factional fighting brought it to the brink of civil war.

But fears have been raised that East Timor's fragile stability will be tested in the coming months ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections which are due by mid-2012.

"We are not going back to the violence of the past," said Mr Ramos-Horta, who was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 for his role in fighting for the country's independence as its exiled spokesman for 24 years.

"I know the pulse of the people, the mood the political leadership. People are much happier today...they are much more hopeful and optimistic.

"I have met with all the political leaders in the recent past, everybody is committed to clean, fair elections and will accept the results peacefully."

Some foreign businessmen are already talking quietly about quitting the country during the election build-up, amid widely held fears of turmoil, with land disputes, corruption, rivalries and resentments simmering.

The local police are "very capable" of handling any unrest, Mr Ramos-Horta said after speaking at a forum organised by brokerage CLSA in Hong Kong, where he sought to inspire investor confidence on East Timor's economy.

There are still around 1,200 UN police in East Timor, in addition to about 500 Australian-led troops under a separate security mandate, and analysts say the local police are incapable of dealing with even minor situations.

Mr Ramos-Horta, the second post-independence president after Xanana Gusmao - the current prime minister - also said he is not keen to seek re-election next year, although he was quick to add he was still "weighing every aspect".

"I am extremely reluctant to seek a second term," said Mr Ramos-Horta, who lost four siblings during the Indonesian occupation and survived a 2008 assassination attempt.

"Even if I am certain that I will be re-elected - most (recent) indicators say I will be easily re-elected - but I believe it is good for the maturity of our democracy that someone like me can consider stepping aside."

He ruled out running for UN secretary-general after retirement when, he joked, he wanted to become a priest.

Mr Ramos-Horta also said the government has no plans to reopen talks with Australia on it's proposal to set up a refugee processing centre in his country. Canberra is currently trying to salvage a refugee swap deal with Malaysia.

According to US cables released by WikiLeaks and reported by Australian media yesterday, American diplomats felt Mr Ramos-Horta believed himself to be "above local politics" and had let his Nobel peace prize "go to his head". His office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

East Timor applied to join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in March with the aim of being accepted as a full member by 2013. It assured its neighbours it would not be a "burden or nuisance".

The president said the impoverished nation, which is battling high unemployment despite double-digit economic growth, was politically and economically "more than ready" to be part of the 10-member grouping.

The bid has received backing from Indonesia, the current ASEAN chair, but some members have voiced concerns over East Timor's economy, fearing it could hamper ASEAN's goal of creating a single free-market community by 2015.