DILI
\nVoters in East Timor chose a president in a runoff Tuesday between former independence fighters who\u2019ve blamed each other for years of political paralysis.
\nNobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos-Horta had a commanding lead in the election\u2019s first round but failed to exceed 50% of the votes and avoid the runoff. Ramos-Horta received 46.6%, incumbent President Francisco \u201cLu Olo\u201d Guterres won 22.1% and 14 other candidates split the rest of the votes in the March 19 election.
\nRamos-Horta, 72, and Guterres, 67, were resistance figures during Indonesia\u2019s occupation of East Timor. More than 76% of the votes last month went to resistance-era figures, showing how much they dominate politics after two decades despite younger voices emerging.
\nPolls closed at 3 p.m. and vote-counting began at 1,200 polling centers across the tiny country. Preliminary results may not be known until Wednesday.
\nThe winner of the runoff takes office on May 20, the 20th anniversary of the restoration of East Timor\u2019s independence.
\n\u201cI call on people to accept whatever the results of this election wisely,\u201d Guterres told reporters while voting in Dili, the capital.
\nRamos-Horta, East Timor\u2019s president from 2007 to 2012, and Guterres have blamed each other for years of political paralysis.
\nIn 2018, Guterres refused to swear in nine Cabinet nominees from the National Congress of the Reconstruction of East Timor, known as CNRT, a party led by former prime minister and independence leader Xanana Gusmao, who backed Ramos-Horta\u2019s run for president.
\nGuterres is from the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor, known by its local acronym Fretilin, which had led resistance to Indonesian rule.
\nFretilin says Ramos-Horta is unfit for president, accusing him of causing a crisis as prime minister in 2006, when dozens were killed as political rivalries turned into open conflict on the streets of Dili.
\nThe latest impasse led to the resignation of Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak in February 2020. But he agreed to stay until a new government is formed and to oversee the response to the coronavirus pandemic. His government has operated without an annual budget and has relied on monthly injections from its sovereign fund savings, called the Petroleum Fund.
\nDuring his campaign, Ramos-Horta declared he would call an early parliamentary election if a new majority \u2014 based centrally on the CNRT \u2014 couldn\u2019t be negotiated among the parties in the current parliament. Many are concerned that calling an election early will inflame rather than calm inter-party tensions.
\nRamos-Horta\u2019s commanding lead in the first round may yet weaken the current ruling alliance \u2014Fretilin, People\u2019s Liberation Party or PLP, and Khunto \u2014 in backing Guterres. Ruak\u2019s PLP party and the rural-based Khunto party, have publicly committed to continuing their alliance with Fretilin until the 2023 parliamentary elections are due.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DILI Voters in East Timor chose a president in a runoff Tuesday between former independence fighters who\u2019ve blamed each other for years of political paralysis. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos-Horta had a commanding lead in the election\u2019s first round but failed to exceed 50% of the votes and avoid the runoff. Ramos-Horta received 46.6%, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256199,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[6108,390],"class_list":{"0":"post-256141","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-east-timor","9":"tag-president"},"yoast_head":"\n