Support for Women in 2001 Elections in East Timor

ETTA scheduled elections which took place on 30th August 2001. UNIFEM has considerable regional experience, including in Cambodia and Fiji, in providing non-partisan assistance to women’s groups to encourage women to stand for election. UNIFEM Bangkok has recently documented its experience in the 1993 Cambodian elections (to be published at a later date), which were also held under UN auspices in association with a Peace-Keeping Mission. The the lessons learned in Cambodia have provided the basis for UNIFEM support for women in East Timor.

Training for women candidates in East Timor's first election
(revised 3 Oct 2001)

The best place to practise public speaking is in public!

UNIFEM East & Southeast Asia and the Gender Affairs Unit (GAU) of the East Timor Temporary Administration (ETTA) conducted a series of six workshops to train women from East Timor who were interested in contesting the first election to be conducted by the UN in August 2001. The response from women was overwhelming: more than 250 applied - double the original target, and six workshops - not the planned four or five - were needed. The three-day workshops were held in the World Bank premises in Dili between 1st May and 7th Jun. UNTAET was responsible for in-country costs and the complex logistics of transporting the women to Dili from all over the thirteen districts, while UNIFEM recruited and covered the costs of trainers and resource persons, and provided technical assistance in developing the programme.

Participants were recruited through the UNTAET District Offices, UNTAET Gender Focal Points, NGOs and political parties. Initially, the Gender Affairs Unit, Dili, offered places to 75% of applicants, but later virtually all of those who applied were given the chance to participate. Finally, 145 participated and received a Certificate of Achievement. All 13 districts were represented, as were several political parties that are running in the elections. Among the participants were four women members of the current National Consultative Council, one District Administrator, and many from women's organisations. Several arrived with babies or small children, such was their enthusiasm. Participants covered a wide range of ages, education levels and occupations. At least one participated actively despite having no formal education at all.

The goal of each workshop was: to develop a POLITICAL VISION of women as citizens so they are motivated and able to exercise their basic human rights to participate in the decision making process towards a democratic, prosperous, gender-equal and peaceful East Timor.

The specific objectives were:

• to increase participant’s awareness of themselves as women so they are able to realize their public responsibilities as citizens in national development;

• to obtain a new understanding of politics from a gender perspective, and to understand the meaning of democracy, human rights and the principles of good governance, including accountability and transparencyand their importance for women; and

• to raise awareness and increase participant’s ability to participate in politics in the public sphere, and help them to effectively prepare for the upcoming election as citizens, as leaders in their communities, and as candidates.

Topics included: a basic understanding of the process towards independence in East Timor, from civil registration to adoption of a constitution; the requirements for registration as a citizen, as a voter, and as a candidate; the concepts of representation and representative democracy, accountability and good governance; and, the ways in which women's needs and political interests might differ from those of men.

A relaxed Ibu Titi

Resources: the training built on the experience gained by UNIFEM in the Asia-Pacific region and utilized some of the training materials developed by UNIFEM Pacific (translated into Indonesian), as well as materials from Indonesia. Tauga Nacanaitaba from Fiji, with Ibu Titi Sumbung (workshops 1 to 3) and Gayatri Suryaningsih (workshops 4 to 6) from Jakarta, were supported by resource persons with personal experience of standing for elected office. These included Khunying Supatra Masdit, former minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Thailand (and convenor of the NGO Forum at Beijing) and former Senator, Margaret Reynolds of Australia. The workshops were conducted in Indonesian, Tetum and English.

Media attention: the workshops attracted considerable media attention. A journalist working for the BBC and Netherlands radio interviewed both participants and resource people, while a Japanese TV crew filmed parts of the training and followed up by filming participants during their evening assignments and recreation

Results of the training

One most exciting outcome was the decision by many of the women trained in the UNIFEM-GAU workshops who decided not to personally run for office, to form a Timor Loro Sa'e Women's Political Caucus. This non-partisan group is drawing upon the experiences of similar organisations in the Pacific, and the Indonesian Women's Political Caucus.

The Caucus was very active supporting all women candidates for elected office, regardless of party affiliation, through the campaign and on election day. Before the election, it was active in six Districts and, for example, conducted two training sessions on Women and Politics, one in Aileu and one in Ermera. The Caucus was also instrumental in facilitating the registration of several women candidates.

After the election the Caucus will continue to promote women’s participation in leadership and decision-making in general. The International Republican Institute has agreed to provide facilities for the Caucus and has also been providing technical assistance.

A second, equally exciting outcome, was that 26 (twenty six!) of the participants in the UNIFEM/GAU workshops registered as candidates for the 30th August, 2001 Consultative Assembly election. This was 10% of the total women candidates. Women trained by UNIFEM/GAU stood as candidates in party-lists and as independents, at both the national and district levels, and one was successful in gaining election. (See the next section for more details of women candidates in the election.)

In addition to the two results highlighted above, in the District of Same, ten women trained in the workshops formed a group to conduct civic education for women voters in the District prior to the election, using the experience gained and the materials from the workshops.

At least another ten of the women trained in the UNIFEM-GAU workshops are members of another group, GOMUTIL, or Group of Women Observers East Timor, formed with support from The Asia Foundation. Among the UNIFEM-trained women in GOMUTIL are the President and the Secretary.

Some of the women trained were also selected by the Independent Election Commission (IEC) to become official observers.

The UNIFEM-sponsored project Engendering the Constitution Process being implemented by Oxfam Australia in Dili has also been very successful: 35 women from eight Districts were trained in constitutional and legal issues from a gender perspective. Some then formed groups in each District and collected 7,500 signatures prior to the election for the inclusion of a 10-point platform in the Constitution, including a broad gender equality clause. The Special Representative of the Secretary General praised the efforts of the group and is reported to jog along the beach each morning wearing his Gender in the Constitution T-shirt!

News from Walia Lali, one of the interpreters who assisted the trainers during the workshops:

“oh yes, great news - from the women who joined the Women in Politics workshops – I bumped into 7 WOMEN who are standing as CANDIDATES - 4 joining a party and 3 as Independents - AND THEY ARE SO CONFIDENT AND WERE ALL SMILES – you should have seen us - whenever we bumped into each other at the market, or office or anywhere - we hugged and kissed and cried for joy !! They were from your first group.”

For more news on women in the election, read the next section.

Participation of Women as Candidates for the Constituent Assembly
(added 23 July 2001, updated 10th August 2001)

The original of this very interesting section was prepared by Sofi Ospina and Marta Cordoba from the UNTAET Gender Affairs Unit. It was based on initial lists of candidates registered with the Independent Electoral Commission. Gilda Esposito from UNIFEM's Dili office subsequently supplied the final lists, and the section has been updated in our Bangkok office.

On 30th August 2001 the people of East Timor will elect a Constituent Assembly composed of 88 members: 75 at the national level and 13 at the district level (one representative for each district). The people can choose candidates from any of the political parties, or independent candidates, both at the national and district levels.

To make their choice people will vote twice.

Their first vote will be for one of the national candidates where they will choose from the 21 choices in the ballot presented to them (16 political parties plus five national level independent candidates). The number of seats each political party wins depends on the proportion of votes they receive. An independent candidate will require 1.33% of the valid votes made. If all registered voters take part properly in the election this would represent around 5,200 votes.

Their second vote will be for the district candidates. The number of choices in the district ballot depends on the number of candidates standing at the district level. The winner will be the candidate that has a simple majority of votes.

National Level - Candidates from Political Parties

There are 16 registered political parties at the national level that have put forward nine hundred and sixty three (963) candidates. There are two hundred and sixty (260) women candidates, or 27 per cent of the total.

The table below shows the 16 political parties (see list of full names) ranked by the number of female candidates.

Political Party	Total candidates	Female Candidates
		Number	Percentage
UDC/PDC	74	30	41
FRETILIN	75	26	35
KOTA	75	26	35
PNT	48	24	50
UDT	66	21	32
PSD	74	21	28
ASDT	73	21	29
PDC	73	19	26
PST	75	18	24
PDM	54	13	24
PPT	71	12	17
PTT	33	8	24
APODETI	15	8	53
PD	73	8	11
PL	32	4	13
PARENTIL	52	1	2
Total	963	260	27

Although the majority of the political parties have more than 20 per cent female representation, this does not ensure that a similar proportion of women will be elected. The number of votes gained by each party will determine how many candidates from each party are successful, and women's positions in the party list will determine how many women are successful. It is obvious that the political campaign will be a determining factor in gathering a number of seats for women in the Constituent Assembly.

Chances of national-level party-listed women being elected: the table below shows the number of women in the first five, ten and fifteen positions in the list of each political party. The number of seats won by women will depend on the number of seats that each party wins during the election, which is based on the proportion of votes they obtain.

Political Party	Female Candidates	Number of women ranked in the top:
		5 positions	10 positions	15 positions
UDC/PDC	30	1	2	5
FRETILIN	26	2	4	5
KOTA	26	0	1	2
PNT	24	3	4	6
UDT	21	2	5	6
PSD	21	2	3	4
ASDT	21	1	2	2
PDC	19	1	3	3
PST	18	3	5	8
PDM	13	0	3	6
PPT	12	0	1	2
APODETI	8	1	5	9
PTT	8	2	5	5
PD	8	0	0	1
PL	4	0	0	4
PARENTIL	1	0	0	0
Totals	260	18	43	68

According to a study carried out in March 2001 by the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, the two most prominent parties are Fretilin and Timorese Socialist Party (PSD). These two parties have 35% and 28% female candidates, respectively. If FRETILIN wins 15 seats at the Constituent Assembly, as the above table reflects - five women will be elected. If PSD wins 15 seats, 4 will be women. If these two parties plus the UDT and the PST each win 15 or more seats there would be at least 23 women seated in the Constituent Assembly. This represents 30% of the total seats to be filled by the political parties.

National Level - Independent Candidates

Five national level independent candidates are registered. Three of them are women who were nominated by REDE, an umbrella organisation encompassing fifteen women's NGOs and women's groups.

Chances of national-level independent women being elected: the chances of the independent women candidates being elected will depend on their campaigning and general awareness-raising among the potential electorate. Strategies for advocating and lobbying decision-makers at the grassroots level will be a determinant in increasing their chances of being elected. The Women's Caucus Group could play a major role in sensitizing women and men at the local level to promote these national female candidates.

District Level Candidates

The Constituent Assembly will include 13 district level members, one per district. There is a total of 94 candidates at district level, from both parties and independents. Seven of these, or 7% are women. Of the seven, four are linked to political parties and three are independent candidates.

Chances of district-level women being elected: the chances of the women being elected depends on diverse factors such as: the number of political party candidates standing at the district level, their popularity in the area and their campaign (including their success in advocating to community groups at the local level to promote their candidature).

Conclusion

The chances of women sitting in the Constituent Assembly depend on the popularity of the parties among the constituency, on their ranking within each political party list, on their campaigning and on raising awareness at the local level of the importance of having women sitting in the Constituent Assembly. A determining factor will be the full participation of women and women's organisations in lobbying, advocating, and influencing decision-makers at the grassroots level and clearly informing ordinary people about the importance of having women representatives in the Constituent Assembly.

Taking into account all of these factors, and assuming active lobbying and support for women, it may be reasonable to expect that the Constituent Assembly will have 25-35% female seats.

Our thanks to UNTAET Gender Affairs Unit for the initial version of the above section, and to Gilda in our Dili office for the final lists.

Women Elected to be 26% of the Constituent Assembly
(added 25 September 2001)

The exciting news from the elections is that women are 26% of the Constituent Assembly! Twenty four (24) women have been elected to the Constituent Assembly, one of whom (the Fretilin representative for Oecussi) was trained in the UNIFEM/Gender Affairs Unit workshops on Women in Politics. The work of the Caucus for Women in Politics that was established by the women we trained and which was very active during the election period, probably also contributed to the willingness of political parties to nominate women candidates and of the voters to support women candidates, although obviously there is no direct evidence of that. Unfortunately, one of the 25 women originally elected (who obtained the only seat won by the Socialist Part-PST) subsequently withdrew, citing ill-health, to be replaced by the No.2 candidate who is the Party Leader.

As the table below shows, Fretelin gained the majority of the national-level seats, and provides the majority of the women elected.

Party Seats	Seats Won	Percentage	Women Elected
FRETILIN	43	57.37	16
PD	7	8.72	0
PSD	6	8.18	3
ASDT	6	7.84	1
UDT	2	2.36	1
PNT	2	2.21	1
KOTA	2	2.13	0
PPT	2	2.01	0
PDC	2	1.98	0
PST	1	1.78	0
PL	1	1.1	0
UDC/PDC	1	0.66	0
Totals	75	96.34	22

Additionally, one woman was elected as the District Representative for Dili. She is from Fretelin, which gained 12 out of the 13 District Representative seats.

None of the three women standing as independent candidates was elected.

In total, 23 women were elected to the 88 seat Constituent Assembly, that is, 26%. Congratulations to the women of East Timor!

to top

Dated:1Nov2002