Indonesia monitoring elections in Timor Leste

 The Government of Indonesia is closely monitoring the development of the upcoming general elections in Timor Leste on March 17, Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa said at the Merdeka Palace here on Friday.

Marty noted that as partner and neighboring country of Timor Leste, the Indonesian Government was certain that the general elections in the country would be peaceful.

"Timor Leste is our neighbor. We have an emotional relationship and friendship with that country. That`s why we are closely monitoring the development of their upcoming elections and hope that they will run peacefully," Marty noted.

Therefore, he said, the Government of Indonesia has no plans to evacuate its citizens from Timur Leste before the elections.

However, Indonesian Ambassador to Timor Leste Eddy Setyabudi earlier said that the government had planned a strategy to evacuate 7,540 Indonesians from the country in case of emergency.

On March 8, Eddy held an RI-Timor Leste border coordination meeting in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, to discuss preventive measures in case the elections in Timor Leste ended in chaos.

Eddy noted that the Indonesian Embassy in Timor Leste had prepared a number of evacuation points at Dili airport, Motaain in the west and Metamauk in the south of Belu district.

Source: ANTARA