1 February 2007, Dili—Deputy Special Representative for the Secretary-General Finn Reske-Nielsen, head of Governance Support for the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste appealed to Timorese State institutions today to observe the recommendations made by the Independent Electoral Certification Team (ECT).

According to the Team's third report released to the public yesterday, the electoral process in Timor-Leste is not proceeding satisfactorily. "The findings...are of substantial significance, and relate to all but one of the main areas on which the Team has been mandated to focus," the report said. "It is therefore imperative that appropriate corrective action, as recommended in this report, be taken as a matter of the highest priority."

"In this regard, the UN wishes to encourage the government and other parts of the State to pay very close attention to the recommendations and to give serious consideration to implementing the recommendations of the Team," Reske-Nielsen said at a press conference today. "UNMIT and other members of the UN family stand ready to continue to provide the necessary technical advice to assist the government in the implementation of the recommendations."

The Independent Electoral Certification Team is made up of three high-level electoral experts and was appointed by the Secretary-General in October 2006. The Team is independent from the UNMIT and is mandated to observe each phase of the electoral process and to verify the satisfactory conduct of each of those phases on the basis of benchmarks developed by the Team in consultation with the UN Secretariat and the Timorese electoral authorities.

The ECT Team in its third report recommends that a number of amendments or clarifications be adopted in law to the various election-related legislation to ensure that Timorese legislation meets the benchmarks.

The Team will return for their fourth visit in the next two weeks to continue their work .

For additional information, please contact: Allison Cooper, Spokesperson at +670 723 0453 or Donna Cusumano at +670 723 0749.