Annan approves supervisory board for East Timor presidential elections

The United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, has approved the re-establishment of the five-member Board of Commissioners to supervise East Timor’s first-ever presidential elections.

The elections are set for 14 April, and the Board will remain in session until 20 April when the certified results are announced, a UN spokesman said.

The three Timorese members of the Commission are Benjamin Corte Real, the Director of the University of East Timor; Antero Benedito da Silva, former head of the non-governmental organization (NGO) forum; and Maria Aurora dos Reis, Director of the Christian Children’s Fund in East Timor.

The two international commissioners are Horacio Boneo from Argentina, former director of the UN’s Electoral Assistance Division and currently a electoral and governance consultant, and Walter Rigamoto, the Supervisor of Elections in Fiji.