The results will determine his future.Momentous though that makes this mid-term vote, it will not just be a referendum on the President. Even more, perhaps, it will be a referendum on the state of America and the direction of American opinion. If the Democratic vote is significantly dragged down by the "Clinton factor", America is standing by its church-going conservatism. It would also increase the moral pressure on Mr Clinton to resign.

A good result for Democrats, on the other hand, would put pressure on Congress to reach an arrangement with the White House that would slow, perhaps even halt, the impeachment process.The reality is that a bigger swing in either direction than the "no change" results predicted on the basis of current economic, social and "John Glenn" factors will be interpreted as a vote of confidence or no confidence in the President. They will be voting, they insist, on local issues, on the character and competence of their senator, representative, state governor, or whomever, not on whether the President should remain in office. Whatever the opinion polls say, though, and however many the complicating factors - the likely low turnout, the large number of incumbents standing for re-election, the closeness of several dozen races and the possibility that voters have misled the pollsters about their motives or intentions - the fact is that today's elections will be widely seen as a referendum on Bill Clinton. To mitigate this pain, the Church in East Timor is trying its best to find a satisfactory solution to the problem of East Timor, which is not a problem of charity, but a problem of justice that should be solved through democratic process in the light of UN recommendations rather than having to resort to force and repression.. TODAY'S MID-TERM elections in the United States have commandeered more attention than usual for one reason and one reason alone. We all want to know how, when left to themselves and their conscience in the privacy of the polling booth, Americans will judge their President. Small matter that Mr Clinton's name is not actually on the ballot paper - these are Congressional and state-level elections. Small matter, too, that the overwhelming majority of voters categorically deny that their vote will say anything at all about Bill Clinton.

Our experience under Indonesia has convinced us that the key to our dignity and happiness lies in the exercise of our God-given right to self-determination.Much deeper than the pain in our bellies or disease in our bodies, is the pain in our spirits that comes from the denial of our rights. And no one in East Timor has been a stronger defender of the people's rights than the Church.In spite of material rewards for the adherents of Islam, the totality of the people of East Timor opted for the church that had identified with them, rejoicing in their satisfaction towards an order of prosperity and freedom, and being sorrowful at their sadness towards oppression and sufferings.In other words, difficult times for the people of East Timor have also been difficult for the Church. The Church is the people's Church.In the long term, the Church is attempting to remove the causes that have resulted in the genocide of the Timorese people and their culture. The Church understands that any attempt to address the problem of East Timor, in humanitarian terms alone, is to reduce East Timor to a question of more material aid and money, and is both naive and unjust.Certainly the Timorese do not see it exclusively in these terms or think that more aid is the fundamental answer to our problem. Its organisations, bureaucrats, teachers, all are regarded as the instruments of a despotic government in Jakarta which imposed on the Timorese people an undesirable and unacceptable policy - annexation.On the other hand, the fact of the island of Timor being discovered by a Portuguese Dominican monk has a particular significance for the Timorese traditions, legends and beliefs, and created an atmosphere of friendship and respect for all that belongs to the Church.As the experiences of the past have consolidated the relation of people with the church, now, in hard times, the people have turned to the Church for every form of assistance, for food, medicine, clothing, housing, education and for spiritual support.They have also turned to the Church for protection of their human rights. My comments related to teachers dismissed by my authority for abusive acts against children.