Dili, 19 June 2012 - The Acting Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General to Timor-Leste, Finn Reske-Nielsen, hands over election materials to the Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration (STAE) ahead of the 2012 parliamentary election.

The election materials consist of 5,000 bottles of indelible ink, 2,000 T-shirts for the National Observers, 2,000 vests for the International Observers, 2,000 vests for polling staff, voter education posters and billboards.

“STAE together with the UN have one single objective, to deliver transparent and impartial elections,” said the Director-General of STAE Tomas Cabral. “I believe that the elections in Timor-Leste can be an example for other Asian countries.”

The election materials were procured by the UN as part of the long-term institutional support and technical assistance provided to Timor-Leste’s electoral management bodies.

“The UN is committed to supporting the electoral process in Timor-Leste,” said Finn Reske-Nielsen. “I am fully confident that under the able leadership of STAE, and with the support of stakeholders, these parliamentary elections will be fair, peaceful and successful.”

Logistical and operational support is provided by the UN through a joint UNMIT and UNDP team, with funding from Japan, Sweden, Norway and Ireland.

For more information, please contact:

Carlos Araujo
UNMIT Spokesperson
Email: araujoc@un.org
Tel: +670 731 1513

Louise Stoddard
UNDP Media Officer
Email: louise.stoddard@undp.org
Tel: +670 732 7211