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OO RUEHCHI RUEHNH RUEHPB
DE RUEHDT #0429/01 2350913
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FM AMEMBASSY DILI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2907
INFO RUEHDT/AMEMBASSY DILI 2238
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 0658
RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RUEHLI/AMEMBASSY LISBON 0647
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RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 0585
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 0379
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 0731
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0511

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DILI 000429 
 
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DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MTS, IO 
USUN FOR RICHARD MCCURRY 
NSC FOR HOLLY MORROW 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  8/22/2016 
TAGS: PREL PHUM KDEM UNSC KPKO TT JA
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT GUSMAO ASKS ANNAN TO RETAIN SRSG HASEGAWA THROUGH 
2007 ELECTIONS 
 
REF: (A) DILI 134; (B) STATE 40609 
 
DILI 00000429  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Grover Joseph Rees, Ambassador, U.S. Embassy 
Dili, Department of State. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
(1) (C) Summary:  In response to reports that senior United 
Nations officials may have tentatively decided to replace 
Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) Sukehiro 
Hasegawa with a new SRSG to lead the impending United Nations 
mission in East Timor, President Xanana Gusmao has sent a letter 
to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan urging that Hasegawa be 
retained.  The President's letter says it would be difficult for 
a new SRSG to develop the expertise and relationships Hasegawa 
has in time to provide effective advice to Timorese institutions 
charged with conducting the upcoming national elections. 
Gusmao's letter says that Prime Minister Ramos-Horta concurs in 
the recommendation to retain Hasegawa.  Ensuring free and fair 
national elections, in part through a robust and policy-driven 
United Nations presence, has been a major preoccupation of both 
President Gusmao and Prime Minister Ramos-Horta in recent 
months.  The Fretilin party, still led by former Prime Minister 
Alkatiri, continues to press for an election law that would 
seriously disadvantage opposition parties, and Hasegawa --- 
unlike some UN officials  --- has been perceived as a strong 
supporter of the level playing field favored by Gusmao and 
Ramos-Horta.  End Summary. 
 
(2) (C) Background:  Reports circulated in Dili diplomatic 
circles last week that highly placed UN officials, possibly but 
not necessarily including Secretary General Annan, had 
tentatively determined that SRSG Hasegawa should be replaced. 
These reports were confirmed by Hasegawa himself, who told 
Ambassador that he expected to take a new assignment within the 
United Nations system and hinted that this had not been his 
preference.  The Japanese Ambassador to East Timor, whose 
Embassy had previously urged United States support for 
Hasegawa's reappointment, also indicated to Ambassador Rees on 
August 18 that he thought a decision had been made to replace 
Hasegawa. 
 
(3) (U) In response to these reports, President Xanana Gusmao 
has sent a letter to SG Annan urging that he retain Hasegawa in 
the new mission.  The letter focuses on the upcoming national 
elections, noting that "these elections need to be held within 
several months and it would be difficult for any new 
representative to become familiar with various issues and to 
advise effectively the government and other state institutions." 
 It adds that "Mr. Hasegawa has already been providing us with 
valuable advice and assistance so effectively that both Prime 
Minister Ramos-Horta and I" support retaining Hasegawa until 
after the elections are held in mid-2007. 
 
(4) (SBU) Comment:  The President's reference to support by 
Ramos-Horta for retaining Hasegawa is significant and somewhat 
surprising.  The Prime Minister told Ambassador in July that he 
thought Hasegawa should be replaced by Ian Martin, who had 
recently led a high-level mission to East Timor on behalf of the 
Secretary General.  Assuming the President's assessment of 
 
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Ramos-Horta's current view is accurate, the Prime Minister's 
change of position might be explained in part by the intervening 
news that Martin is not available for the job, and perhaps also 
by the absence of any particularly impressive names among the 
rumored possible replacements for Hasegawa.  Another important 
factor in Gusmao's and Ramos-Horta's thinking may be the 
continuing struggle over whether the 2007 elections will be 
conducted under laws and systems that are genuinely designed to 
ensure freedom and fairness.  Gusmao and Ramos-Horta support an 
election law (such as the one recently proposed in Parliament by 
eight opposition parties) that would require the elections to be 
conducted under the authority of an independent national 
election commission, would give all parties seats in rough 
proportion to the number of votes they receive in the election, 
and would not impose significant obstacles to participation by 
small parties and/or new parties.  The Fretilin bench in 
Parliament, which is in the majority, has reintroduced a very 
different draft election law that was originally proposed by the 
government of former Prime Minister Alkatiri, who is still 
 
DILI 00000429  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Secretary General of Fretilin.  The Fretilin-proposed law would 
 
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require that the elections be run by the highly partisan 
Ministry for State Administration, would use a voting formula 
that would give no seats to any party that got less than five 
per cent of the votes, would redistribute these seats 
overwhelmingly to the largest party, and would impose a host of 
other barriers to entry by new parties, to participation by 
small parties, and to party-switching by Members of Parliament 
dissatisfied with their party leadership.  While some UN 
officials, primarily from within UNDP, have been willing to 
accommodate the Fretilin position on these matters (see Ref A), 
Hasegawa --- although himself a veteran former UNDP official --- 
has strongly supported the position taken by Gusmao and 
Ramos-Horta (and by the United States, see Ref B) that the 
elections must be conducted under rules and systems that reflect 
a broad national consensus and ensure a level playing field. 
End Comment. 
REES