Both the East Timorese and international ministers should be accountable to the NCC, answering questions from NCC members and appearing at hearings. The defining events of political transition will be the adoption of a constitution and free elections. Elections will choose a Constituent Assembly, which in turn will write, debate and adopt a constitution. Following its adoption, the Constituent Assembly will become the Parliament. Galbraith also said that East Timor s security will depend on its membership in the United Nations, its membership in regional organizations, as well as its relations with Australia and Indonesia.
Full independence can come at any time following the elections and adoption of the constitution.
Elections could be held as early as April 2001 or as late as November 2001. In either case, it is unlikely that a fully functional East Timorese administration will be in place by these dates, Galbraith added. In a high-level round of talks with President Abdurrahman Wahid yesterday in Jakarta, SRSG Sergio Vieira de Mello urged the Indonesian Government to be generous to the East Timorese students who were finishing their studies in Indonesia before the referendum of last year. The SRSG also expressed the desire to see action on the opening of a transit passage way between the Oecussi enclave and East Timor, as agreed in the joint communiqu of 29 February. They also discussed issues concerning pensions.