A high-level international team overseeing the integrity of Timor-Leste's 2007 presidential and parliamentary elections has arrived in Dili this week on its first mission ahead of next year's polls. The Electoral Certification Team members are Reginald Austin (Zimbabwe), Lucinda Almeida (Portugal), and Michael Maley (Australia). They were appointed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on October 13th.

The team's visit marks the first in a series over the coming months. Its job will be to assess that the overall election process is proceeding in accordance with the Constitution, laws, and internationally accepted electoral standards. Among issues it will examine are the electoral environment, the legal framework, electoral authorities, voter registration, political party and candidate registrations, the campaign period, polling day activities, ballot tabulation procedures, and adjudication of challenges.

The certification team will work independently of the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste, and will submit its findings and recommendations to the Secretary-General and the Timor-Leste authorities. The reports and recommendations of the team will be made public in a timely fashion. UNMIT will provide logistical and administrative support.

Details of the three certification team members are as follows:

Mr. Reginald Austin - Mr. Austin has been an independent electoral consultant since 1992. He served as Chief Electoral Officer in UNTAC (Cambodia), UNOMSA (South Africa) and UNAMA (Afghanistan), in addition to other shorter UN missions where he was a consultant. He has also conducted several technical and observation missions on behalf of the Commonwealth Secretariat. Mr. Austin is the team coordinator.

Lucinda Almeida - Ms. Almeida is on leave from her position as Director of Procedures and the Secretariat of the Parliament of Portugal. She is the former Director General of Elections of Portugal, and she has conducted several UN missions (Angola, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe) and EU missions (Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria and South Africa). Ms. Almeida has participated in cooperation missions in several Portuguese speaking countries, including Timor-Leste.

Michael Maley - Mr. Maley is on leave from his position as Director of the International Services Section of the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC). He served in several UN missions, including Cambodia, Eastern Slavonia, Namibia, South Africa, Western Sahara, and Timor-Leste (were he was an International Commissioner in 2001). He has also conducted several other cooperation missions on behalf of the AEC in several countries in the region.

For additional information, please contact:
Adrian Edwards, Acting Chief, Public Information Office, UNMIT; +670 723 0453 or Donna Cusumano, Spokesperson at +670 723 0749