Timor assembly approves new constitution

East Timorese will head back to the polls to elect a president on April 14

DILI, East Timor -- East Timor has taken another major step towards nationhood after the territory's constituent assembly gave its approval to a draft of the future nation's constitution.

The document is expected to receive formal approval next month and come into effect on May 20 when East Timor emerges as the world newest independent nation.

"The system we have chosen is loosely based on the Portuguese system," assembly deputy speaker Arlindo Marcal told the Associated Press.

Under the new constitution the president's role is defined as largely symbolic, heading up a parliamentary system of government with the head of state dependent on the support of the political parties.

It states that the predominantly Catholic country will not have an official religion, guarantees freedom of the press and will be defended by a politically neutral armed forces.

Following an extended debate on which language East Timor should adopt, the constitution states that Portuguese and local language Tetum will be the country's official languages.

English and Bahasa Indonesia will be used as working languages.

Consultation

Former independence leader Xanana Gusmao is widely expected to sweep the board and become East Timor's first president

The approval of the draft charter will be followed by a five-day national consultation period later this month during which suggestions for changes will be invited.

After that the assembly will consider proposed amendments before formally approving the new national constitution.

A month later, on April 14, the territory will vote for its new president, the final step on the territory's long and often bloody path to independence.

East Timor, a Portuguese colony for more than three centuries, was invaded by Indonesia in 1975.

After years of often brutal Indonesian rule the territory's 700,000 people voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence in a United Nations sponsored referendum.

That vote sparked a violent backlash from pro-Indonesian mobs who went on the rampage, backed up by members of the Indonesian military laying waste to much of the territory.

Although the violence was eventually brought to an end with the arrival of an Australian-led intervention force, aid agencies say East Timor will remain dependent on assistance from the international community for many years to come.