|
A Vision for our beloved country, 30 March 2007
Prime Minister Dr. Ramos-Horta learnt through the media that
"several members of the government and other senior state
officials got unrestricted access passes to the polling areas
from the official Technical Administrative Electoral Secretariat
(STAE)", during the first round of the presidential election.
These type of pass - so called "Livre Acesso" - is not
covered by the electoral regulations.
According to the reports which were never contradicted by the
relevant electoral authority, "11 general access passes were
requested by the office of the Prime Minister".
The Prime Minister informs that a request was never made to issue
access passes to the polling areas by him nor by his office at
all. Furthermore, he did not authorize anyone to request the passes.
Dr. Ramos-Horta expresses his preoccupation for these facts indicate
that the office of the Prime Minister, without either his knowledge
or the knowledge of his Chief of Staff, was improperly used to
obtain the passes.
The Prime Minister decided that this serious matter must be investigated
in order to find out on what grounds the passes to the polling
areas were issued and who requested them.
Moreover, the people of Timor-Leste deserve an explanation by
the competent authority about the reason why members of the government
might need unrestricted access to polling stations on polling
day.
The integrity of the election and the credibility of all its
agents require urgent elucidation of this issue. The workings
of public services competent to organize elections as well as
of all State institutions need to be transparent to the public.
|
