East Timor Gets Huge, Peaceful Turnout : Indonesia: Voters cast ballots for autonomy or independence for province.

Ussulau Cepta, 23, his bullet wounds from preelection violence bandaged and an IV drip-bag attached to his arm, was carried from his hospital ward on a stretcher by two nuns Monday and put into an ambulance.

“I want freedom,” he said as he headed to a polling station.

Joao de Araugo, 50, came out of the forested hills where she had spent the night, fearful of marauding militia gangs, and made a two-hour walk barefoot to the same station in Becora on the eastern outskirts of Dili.

“We have waited too long for this minute in history,” she said.

Others, old and young, trekked in their best Sunday clothes along the dusty road to Becora--the scene of militia bloodshed last week. One widow in black carried a framed portrait of her late husband, gunned down at a spot on the road now marked by a cardboard sign that says: “Be Careful. Someone Killed Here Last Week.” Just ahead a frail, bearded man hobbled on crutches toward Becora’s secondary school, where long lines of voters had already formed.

It was a remarkable scene befitting a remarkable event: After four centuries of Portuguese colonial rule and more than two decades of brutal Indonesian domination, East Timor’s people were going to the polls to decide their future--independence or continued association with Indonesia that would include wide-ranging autonomy.

Militias Keep Promise to Lay Down Arms

Despite threats of violence, the historic, United Nations-sponsored election throughout this impoverished province was surprisingly peaceful, as militias kept their promise to lay down their arms. One U.N. worker, an East Timorese, was stabbed to death by a mob near Dili.

The turnout was huge, as thousands of voters chose to ignore warnings that they would be killed if they voted for independence.

“These are brave people,” a German election observer said, echoing the relief and satisfaction expressed elsewhere in the world that the election had gone smoothly. Many countries had warned the Indonesian government that it faced political and economic consequences if the election was derailed by violence.

The United Nations will start counting ballots today. Results will be released in about a week, simultaneously in Indonesia and at U.N. headquarters in New York.

“It’s too early to assess the results of this unique form of popular consultation,” said Ambassador Jamsheed Marker, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s personal envoy to East Timor. “But all of us can derive satisfaction at the peaceful enthusiasm that characterized the conduct at the polls today.

“Whatever the results, the eagle of liberty has spread its proud wings over the people of East Timor, and nothing by God’s grace will ever take that away.”

Pro-independence activists claimed victory even before any ballots were counted, saying the high turnout ensured their success.

U.N. officials estimated that more than 90% of East Timor’s more than 430,000 registered voters cast ballots. Seven of the province’s 850 polling stations shut down temporarily during the day because of security concerns, the officials said--a surprisingly small number considering that many people feared militia violence and voter intimidation would keep the election from being held at all.

“This is wonderful and kind of amazing, to be voting in secret for the future of our land,” said Fatima Desa, 17. “Yes, I’m for independence, but if the autonomy side wins, I’ll abide by the results. I can live with that.”

Not everyone is so tolerant, and it remains to be seen whether forces on the losing side will accept the voters’ choice or try to renew the civil war that has been fought on and off here for 24 years and taken 200,000 lives. Most political analysts believe that the former Portuguese colony, which was invaded by Indonesia in 1975 and annexed as a province the next year, is destined for independence once the ballots are counted.

The divisions that have tormented East Timor in recent years date back to 1974, when it became apparent that Portugal was preparing to walk away from its colony. Indonesia, not wanting a small and perhaps Communist entity on its doorstep, began lining up a network of East Timorese it could work with. It found many.

After Indonesia’s invasion, those collaborators became what is today the backbone of the anti-independence forces. They were rewarded generously, in jobs and money, for their loyalty to the regime of Indonesian strongman Suharto, and they fear they will lose everything if the East Timorese sever their relationship with the government in Jakarta.

Anti-independence forces are augmented by civil servants and businessmen who have moved here from the Indonesian island of Java; by the Indonesian military, which does not want to surrender a province it fought to get; and by unruly militias trained and paid by the military. Each militia member gets about $18 a month. Some of the militiamen have been recruited from West Timor, a separate province and former Dutch colony that shares the island with East Timor.

Western and Asian diplomats believe that the Indonesian military is the key to East Timor’s immediate security. It has the power to rein in militias, and diplomats say there are some indications it may be in the process of doing that because of international pressure.

Nationalism Motivates Independence Activists

The forces that fought the Indonesian invaders and have always wanted independence had Communist ties in the 1970s. They have no particular ideology today other than nationalism and, largely because of Indonesia’s human rights abuses here, appear to have gained the sympathy of much of the world. The pro-autonomy forces say they are victims of a world conspiracy to make East Timor independent.

If the vote is in favor of independence, the Indonesian parliament will have to revoke the constitutional amendment annexing East Timor when it meets in November. The U.N. Security Council would then decide whether there was a need for an armed peacekeeping force during the territory’s transitional period.