Dispatch of Electoral Observers for the Elections for Representatives to the Constituent Assembly in East Timor

June 26, 2001

The United Nations invited the Government of Japan to dispatch electoral observers for the elections for representatives to the Constituent Assembly in East Timor. After studying the invitation, the Government of Japan has decided that in response to this invitation and based on the Law concerning Cooperation for United Nations Peacekeeping Operations and other Operations (International Peace Cooperation Law) it will take necessary procedures to dispatch electoral observers, most likely from the end of August to the beginning of September 2001, under its policy of extending as much assistance as possible for East Timor's progress toward independence and nation-building.
In East Timor, the preparations for independence are under way based on the will of the people which was made clear in the referendum held in August 1999, and the elections for representatives to the Constituent Assembly are to be conducted on August 30, 2001 by the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET).
The Government of Japan has been actively cooperating with East Timor in the process toward independence and nation-building including support for the country's rehabilitation and humanitarian assistance. In addition to the dispatch of civilian police officers from Japan to the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) for the referendum in August 1999, Japan also, based on the International Peace Cooperation Law, dispatched its Air Self-Defense Force to deliver aid materials provided by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to East Timorese displaced to West Timor after the turmoil in September 1999.

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