In 1999, there was a lot of pressure on Indonesia. Therefore, the Indonesian government decided to hold a vote. In this referendum it asked the people of East Timor, whether they wanted to stay with Indonesia or become independent. Portugal had done some lobbying. The referendum was held on August 30. In it, a clear majority (78.5%) of people voting said they would prefer to become independent. The alternative proposal would have been to stay with Indonesia, but to have many freedoms as an "autonomous province", called Special Autonomous Region of East Timor (SARET).