Three days after the elections, I'm still exhausted and lacking sleep and my body still aches all over from driving!
Yesterday we went through all the materials that were left to start preparing for the second round, which will be held on April 21st. Some boxes were still complete, no items missing, but unfortunately most were missing quite a lot: calculator, stappler, rulers, pens...To be honest you can't really blame them...Timorese people still live in dire poverty even with all the oil money around. That's actually one of the factors that led to the 2007 violence, the people know the money is there but they are not seeing any changes to their living conditions! Look at Maliana, still no electricity 24 hours a day but for election day, both Saturday and Sunday, there WAS electricity 24/7 so the means are there!
The second round promises to be very interesting with Lu'Olo and TMR neck and neck. They were both prominent fighters during the resistance against Indonesia but TMR is older than Lu'Olo and has already addressed his competition publicly claiming that, as he's older, it's his turn now to be president! But Lu'Olo was up ahead of TMR in the poles so will TMR concede if Lu'Olo wins or will he resent the fact that, as his elder, TMR should be the rightful president!! There is also the problem that a lot of people won't understand why they have to vote again, especially in places where TMR and Lu'Olo weren't even contenders, like in Bobonaro where Lasama won with a wide majority and Ramos-Horta came in second, so that's our job (STAE) now to make sure people understand why they need to choose again between these 2 even if they didn't vote for either of them in the first round.
There was also the issue that, while TMR was campaigning and as he is the leader of the Timorese army, soldiers were campaigning for him while armed! CNE is the body in charge of monitoring the campaigns and the elections and has already sent in electoral offences to deal with this situation but I find it very irresponsible to use the army at all to campaign, it can instill unecessary fear in the voters! Also, I don't know how I feel about having a military man as head of the country, I'm not quite sure it's the right way to lead Timor into the future and possibly into ASEAN.
This looks to be one interesting campaign indeed, I just hope that the Timorese will let it run as smoothly and peacefully as this election just passed.
In the meantime here are some interesting post-election news :)
National NewsFretilin's Lu-Olo takes the lead in presidential election
Timornewsline
Presidential Candidate Francisco "Lu-Olo" Guterres from the Fretilin Party is currently in the lead in the presidential election with 123,751 votes (28.38 %), while the ex-army commander, Taur Matan Ruak is in second place with 109,338 votes (25.07%).
The incumbent President José Ramos-Horta is in third place with 78,423 votes (17.98%).
Presidential candidate Fernando "Lasama" de Araujo, who is also the country's president of Parliament, is in fourth place with 77,447 votes (17.76%).
Presidential election runs peacefully, CNE congratulates PNTL
Suara Timor Lorosae (cover page)
National Election Commission, Commissioner Angelina Sarmento congratulated the PNTL on its support to guarantee security in the presidential election.
"I congratulate the Timorese people and the National Police on their efforts to guarantee the presidential election with peace and tranquillity," said Sarmento.
PNTL Deputy General Commander Afonso de Jesus said that he appreciates Timorese people who are able to participate in democracy with peace and unity.
"Even though the first round of the presidential election is complete, PNTL continues to support security in the country," said de Jesus.
UNPOL Commissioner Luis Carrilho said that he is pleased with the Timorese people as they understood and respected PNTL and UNPOL role to secure the election process.
Ruak and Lu-Olo go to second round
Independente (cover page)
The presidential election provisional results show that there is no major winner in the election, and that presidential candidates Taur Matan Ruak and Francisco "Lu-Olo" Guterres will move to the second round.
The total votes for Lu-Olo is 28.31% and for Taur Matan Ruak is 25.04%.
Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão called on all citizens to accept the election results.
"I am calling on the youth and candidates’ supporters to show to ourselves and the world that we are able to maintain the growth of democracy and maintain tolerance and respect," said Gusmão.
Horta: I am happy to receive the election results
Diário Nacional 19 March 2012
Presidential candidate José Ramos-Horta said that he is pleased with the results, whether he wins or loses the race to become president of the republic.
Ramos-Horta spoke to journalists at the voting centre in Metiaut, Dili on Saturday.
Horta said that Lu-Olo, Lasama, TMR, and Jose Luis Guterres are able to lead Timor-Leste into the future, and encouraged them to strengthen peace, unity and stability if the Timorese people elect any of them to be president.
Horta said that he appreciates the efforts of Timorese people to strengthen stability from the first day of the campaign up to election day.
CNE files 10 electoral offenses, three submitted to Public Prosecution
Independente (cover page)
The National Election Commission (CNE) President Faustino Cardoso said that they identified ten electoral offenses and they already submitted three of them to the Public Prosecution.
"CNE received 10 cases presented by Ruak’s promotion team, the Timor-Leste Press Club (TLPC), Partido Republicano, from the promotion team of Lu-Olo,"
"CNE responded to such claims and some of them have been resolved. Three of them as electoral offenses have been sent to the Public," said Cardoso.
He added that the campaigns went well within 15 days, even though there an incident occurred but it did not have a major impact.
Lasama worried about Gusmão’s presence at STAE
Diário Nacional, 19 March 2012
Presidential candidate Fernando de Araujo Lasama declared his concerns to STAE-CNE about the presence of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão at STAE’s office.
Lasama made the comment at CNE’s office on 16 March while meeting with the 12 presidential candidates and the promotion teams about the election.
Lasama said that Gusmão is also a campaigner for TMR; therefore, Lasama is worried that Gusmão’s presence at the STAE office may interfere in STAE’s duties.
However, Lasama believes that Gusmão did not do anything at STAE’s office.
STAE Director Tomas Cabral said that article 12 says that STAE is accountable to the government; Cabral added that the prime minister’s presence at STAE was to support STAE to speed up the distribution of ballot papers to the districts.
Horta says that electoral law drafters are brainless
Independente (cover page)
President of the Republic José Ramos-Horta said that whoever drafted the electoral law is brainless, because the law forces people who have no money to pay for public transportation to return to their homes to vote in their villages.
"I was sad when I passed through Manatuto I saw thousands of people in open trucks and on motorbikes who went back to their villages even though it was raining,’
"I am angry because the electoral law forces poor people and small vendors in Hali-Laran and Comoro markets who have no money but they have to go to their districts such as Baucau, Lospalos, Ainaro, Aileu and others,’
"It seems that whoever produced the law has no brain. People have to spend US$30 to go to Oecussi and Suai. It made me upset with the electoral law. We produce the law to facilitate people to participate [in the election] and not to make them face difficulties," said Horta.
Lu-Olo: No political force can divide Fretilin party
Suara Timor Lorosae (cover page)
President of the Fretilin Party, Francisco Guterres ‘Lu-Olo’ said that he received a lot of votes in the eastern part of Timor-Leste, which means that no political force is able to divide Fretilin party members in those districts.
Lu-Olo said that the party is still strong because since the presidential and parliamentary elections in 2007 Fretilin has consistently received a lot of votes in those districts.
Lu-Olo said that he is fully confident to win the presidential election because his supporters are committed to vote for him to become the next president of the republic.
International News
East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta admits poll defeat
BBC News Asia, 19 March 2012
East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta has admitted defeat and congratulated his rivals after the first round of the country's presidential election.
Mr Ramos-Horta said he would hand over power to the winner on 19 May.
Opposition leader Francisco Guterres and former guerrilla leader Taur Matan Ruak were ahead after at least 70% of the votes were counted, based on data from the election commission.
The two candidates face a run-off on 21 April.
The electoral commission is still counting the votes and has yet to announce the final results. So far, Mr Guterres has a narrow lead over Mr Ruak, with Mr Ramos-Horta trailing in third place.
"I congratulate the two candidates who continue into the second round," he said at a news conference.
Mr Ramos-Horta, a Nobel peace prize winner, has been a key figure in East Timor politics since 1999. He defeated Mr Guterres in the 2007 run-off after coming second in the first round.
He served as foreign minister, prime minister and eventually president from 2007.
The presidency is a largely ceremonial role, but the election comes in a year of security transition, with UN forces scheduled to leave by the end of the year.
East Timor gained independence in 2002 after three years of UN administration, which followed more than two decades of bloody guerrilla warfare during Indonesian rule.
Twelve candidates took part in this election.
Peaceful polls
News Straits Times (Malaysia), 19 March 2012
AT the time of this writing, incumbent Nobel Prize-winning President Jose Ramos-Horta was trailing in third place in the presidential polls in Timor Leste. The front runner was leader of the main opposition Fretilin Party, Francisco "Lu-Olo" Guterres, who also won the first round of the 2007 presidential election. Coming in second place was former army chief Taur Matan Ruak, who is backed by the National Congress for the Reconstruction of East Timor, the party of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao. In fourth place was speaker of parliament Fernando Lasama de Araujo, who came in third in the first round in 2007 and endorsed Ramos-Horta in the second round. In other words, the early results show that the race for the presidency of Timor Leste is running true to form.
It was widely expected that it would be a three-way battle between Gutteres, Ruak and Ramos-Horta, with de Araujo a possible dark horse, and the other eight candidates contesting the elections unlikely to receive significant support. Though it is much too early to say who will eventually emerge as the top two, whatever the final results may be, what is clear is that a run-off would be necessary as it was five years ago. The closeness of the race points to the fact that there will be no outright winner with a clear majority.
What is also clear is that the people of Timor Leste turned out in larger numbers -- 626,000 this year compared with 524,000 five years ago -- and were able to cast their votes free from intimidation, threats and violence. This is not to say that past presidential elections have been violent. Indeed, the first one in 2002 and the second in 2007 were largely incident-free. But the same cannot be said of the country in general. Indeed, the presidential and parliamentary elections of 2007 were held against a backdrop of the violence that broke out following the military mutiny in 2006. In 2008, there were attempts to assassinate the president and prime minister. But since then, the security situation has improved.
The fact that the campaign period and election day in the first round of this year's presidential polls have been virtually free of violence is further testimony to the political progress that has been made. At this rate, this young nation will have much to celebrate when it marks the 10th year of its founding in May. The hope is that when Timor Leste again goes to the polls in June, things will be just as peaceful.
Ramos-Horta out as East Timor heads for run-off
The Western Australia/AFP, 19 March 2012
DILI - East Timor's President Jose Ramos-Horta has lost his bid for re-election, failing to make it to a run-off in the country's second presidential vote as a free nation, preliminary results showed Sunday.
The results pointed to a second-round showdown between the opposition Fretilin party's Francisco "Lu Olo" Guterres and former armed forces chief Taur Matan Ruak, an official from the election secretariat said.
Ramos-Horta, who shared the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to bring peace to his homeland, lagged in third place after more than 70 percent of votes were counted, official Luiz Fernando Valls told AFP.
"Guterres and Ruak will go through to the second round on April 16, based on this preliminary count," he said.
The shift to candidates with lower profiles on the world stage was "emblematic of the desire to move on from being an international cause", Michael Leach, politics lecturer from Australia's Swinburne University of Technology, told AFP.
It reflected the people of East Timor's desire "to move on from 10 years of international state building", he added.
Ramos Horta, a popular leader who survived a 2008 assassination attempt, said Saturday that if he was not re-elected he would have "to struggle to choose what to do".
The 62-year-old added that he had a long-standing commitment to a Western literary agency to write a book.
None of the 12 candidates who contested Saturday's election were able to garner more than 50 percent of the vote constitutionally required for an outright win.
The vote was the first in a series of key events for the poor and chronically unstable country as it enters a pivotal period.
In May, East Timor will celebrate 10 years of independence from Indonesia, and in June, voters will choose a new government in a general election.
At the end of the year the nation of 1.1 million people bids goodbye to UN forces stationed in the country since 1999.
The preliminary results showed Guterres on around 28 percent, Ruak on 25 percent, and Ramos on 18 percent, with 460,216 votes or about 73 percent of the total votes cast counted, Valls said.
Guterres, 57, who heads the opposition Fretilin party, which is synonymous with the resistance, lost the presidency to Ramos-Horta in a run-off in 2007.
Ruak, 56, who has campaigned in his camouflage fatigues, has vowed to introduce mandatory military service if elected.
He is in the run-off despite being accused by the United Nations of illegal weapons transfers in 2006, when rioting and factional fighting had the nation on the brink of civil war.
Around the country Sunday, Timorese people had their eyes glued to their television sets, watching the changing figures broadcast live by the country's electoral commission on state radio and television.
Everyone from shopkeepers selling traditional handicrafts in Dili's Tias market to candidates' spokesmen mingling with journalists was talking about who would emerge on top.
Votes were being counted by hand, some in remote areas with poor communications, and full results were not due until later in the week, according to election officials.
National election commission president Faustino Cardoso Gomes told a press conference earlier there were "some irregularities" during the election process.
"Some polling stations ran out of ballot papers, for instance in Dili and some other places, but all have been resolved," he said.
Thomas Cabral, head of elections secretariat overseeing the polls, said heavy rains during the elections had affected voter turnout and the transport of ballot papers in some cities.
Opposition Leader Leads in Timor Leste's Presidential Election
Xinhua (China), 18 March 2012
Francisco "Lu-Olo" Guterres, leader of Timor Leste main opposition Fretilin party, is leading in the preliminary result of the presidential election released on midday Sunday.
Among the 328,946 valid votes that have been counted, Lu- Olo won 27.62 percent or more than 90,000 votes, said Tomas de Rorario Cabral, director general of the election management body of STAE.
Lu- Olo was trailed by former armed forces chief General Taur Matan Ruak, who secured 24.23 percent of the votes. Incumbent President Jose Ramos-Horta and Democratic Party chief Fernando Lasama de Araujo ranked the third and fourth place, winning 19.13 percent and 17.78 percent of the votes respectively.
The number of voters have surged from 524,000 in 2007 to more than 626,000 this year, according to the National Commission of Election. A runoff will take place in April if no candidate secures an absolute majority in the first round.
Ramos-Horta won the 2007 election against Lu-Olo in the runoff with the backing of Gusmao's National Reconstruction Congress of Timor Leste party or CNRT.
CNRT did not name its candidate in the election but supports former armed forces chief Taur Matan Ruak.
President in Timor Leste is generally considered playing merely a ceremonial role, but Saturday's poll is crucial to gauge the popularity of Fretilin, the resistance movement that fought for Timor Leste's independence, ahead of the June parliamentary election.
E. Timor's oil 'no solution' to grinding poverty
Agence France-Presse, 18 March 2012
East Timor's oil sector may be pouring more money than ever into state coffers but the grinding poverty on the dirt streets of the capital underlines the challenge facing whoever emerges as the winner of weekend elections.
The half-island nation went to the polls on Saturday to elect a new president to preside over a country where about half the 1.1 million population lives below the poverty line.
East Timor is the world's most oil-dependent economy with energy reserves accounting for around 90 percent of state revenue.
Although oil and gas have bolstered the treasury -- its Petroleum Fund recently swelled to $10 billion -- the majority of the population survive on agriculture, prompting warnings that energy alone is not the solution for Asia's poorest nation.
In Dili, rains bring mud canals that cut through shanty town neighbourhoods of huts slapped together with wooden planks and rusted tin roofs.
Destitute children without a stitch of clothing play in the streets alongside pigs, chickens and stray dogs.
Infrastructure is limited to a few paved roads, a single port and a tiny airport with one baggage carousel. There is no local currency -- everything runs on US dollars.
The abject poverty, in a country celebrating its first decade of independence from Indonesia's 24-year brutal and destructive military occupation, has fuelled heated debate about how to use the Petroleum Fund.
Incumbent President Jose Ramos Horta, a Nobel laureate who is up against 11 other candidates, has promised to prioritise infrastructure, health and education if re-elected.
The fund, established by the government in 2005 to ensure sustainable use of energy revenues, is invested in US bonds and other assets.
But the long-term viability of the East Timor's energy business is contested, with modest exports from offshore fields it shares with Australia compounding concerns that proven reserves are relatively small.
"This is a petrol state without much petrol," said Charles Scheiner of local independent development organisation La'o Hamutuk.
"The government must concentrate on agriculture, fishing, tourism and other sustainable industries instead of pouring resources into developing the energy sector, which one day will dry up."
The organisation believes oil and gas will enrich foreign companies and an emerging elite, but leave the rest of the population behind.
Gualdino da Silva, president of the National Petroleum Authority, told AFP the Petroleum Fund grew to $10 billion as of Wednesday.
Most of the money comes from a project in the Timor Sea operated by ConocoPhillips.
But Kitan, an offshore oil field operated by ENI, has not been profitable since starting operations about eight months ago, da Silva added.
East Timor's hopes of an energy bonanza are pinned to the offshore Greater Sunrise gas and oil field, which is at the heart of a dispute with Australia over which country should receive the gas for refining.
It contains about 5.13 trillion cubic feet of dry gas and 225.9 million barrels of condensate, according to Woodside, its Australian operator.
Lawmaker Aderito Hugo Da Costa believes the contested field is "crucial" to the nation's future.
"If it is resolved in our favour it will create jobs, build infrastructure and transform the face of East Timor," he said.
But others remain unconvinced.
La'o Hamutuk estimates energy reserves will generate about $50 billion over 40 years -- even assuming that 70 times more oil and gas are found in the future.
"That is about $1.88 for each citizen for each day," Scheiner said. "Petroleum is not a solution to East Timor's future problems."
Australia says troops could soon leave East Timor
Associated Press, 19 March 2012
CANBERRA, Australia — Australian Defense Minister Stephen Smith says parliamentary elections planned in East Timor could allow international troops to begin withdrawing after six years of restoring stability to the fledgling Southeast Asian nation.
Smith on Monday welcomed the success of weekend presidential elections. The official results won't be known until Tuesday, but the incumbent, Nobel laureate Jose Ramos Horta, had nowhere near the support needed to advance to an April 21 run-off between the two front-runners.
Smith says if the run-off election and June parliamentary elections are similarly successful, Australia will discuss with the government, United Nations and New Zealand a drawdown of the 470 Australian and New Zealand troops stationed in East Timor.
Yesterday we went through all the materials that were left to start preparing for the second round, which will be held on April 21st. Some boxes were still complete, no items missing, but unfortunately most were missing quite a lot: calculator, stappler, rulers, pens...To be honest you can't really blame them...Timorese people still live in dire poverty even with all the oil money around. That's actually one of the factors that led to the 2007 violence, the people know the money is there but they are not seeing any changes to their living conditions! Look at Maliana, still no electricity 24 hours a day but for election day, both Saturday and Sunday, there WAS electricity 24/7 so the means are there!
The second round promises to be very interesting with Lu'Olo and TMR neck and neck. They were both prominent fighters during the resistance against Indonesia but TMR is older than Lu'Olo and has already addressed his competition publicly claiming that, as he's older, it's his turn now to be president! But Lu'Olo was up ahead of TMR in the poles so will TMR concede if Lu'Olo wins or will he resent the fact that, as his elder, TMR should be the rightful president!! There is also the problem that a lot of people won't understand why they have to vote again, especially in places where TMR and Lu'Olo weren't even contenders, like in Bobonaro where Lasama won with a wide majority and Ramos-Horta came in second, so that's our job (STAE) now to make sure people understand why they need to choose again between these 2 even if they didn't vote for either of them in the first round.
There was also the issue that, while TMR was campaigning and as he is the leader of the Timorese army, soldiers were campaigning for him while armed! CNE is the body in charge of monitoring the campaigns and the elections and has already sent in electoral offences to deal with this situation but I find it very irresponsible to use the army at all to campaign, it can instill unecessary fear in the voters! Also, I don't know how I feel about having a military man as head of the country, I'm not quite sure it's the right way to lead Timor into the future and possibly into ASEAN.
This looks to be one interesting campaign indeed, I just hope that the Timorese will let it run as smoothly and peacefully as this election just passed.
In the meantime here are some interesting post-election news :)
National NewsFretilin's Lu-Olo takes the lead in presidential election
Timornewsline
Presidential Candidate Francisco "Lu-Olo" Guterres from the Fretilin Party is currently in the lead in the presidential election with 123,751 votes (28.38 %), while the ex-army commander, Taur Matan Ruak is in second place with 109,338 votes (25.07%).
The incumbent President José Ramos-Horta is in third place with 78,423 votes (17.98%).
Presidential candidate Fernando "Lasama" de Araujo, who is also the country's president of Parliament, is in fourth place with 77,447 votes (17.76%).
Presidential election runs peacefully, CNE congratulates PNTL
Suara Timor Lorosae (cover page)
National Election Commission, Commissioner Angelina Sarmento congratulated the PNTL on its support to guarantee security in the presidential election.
"I congratulate the Timorese people and the National Police on their efforts to guarantee the presidential election with peace and tranquillity," said Sarmento.
PNTL Deputy General Commander Afonso de Jesus said that he appreciates Timorese people who are able to participate in democracy with peace and unity.
"Even though the first round of the presidential election is complete, PNTL continues to support security in the country," said de Jesus.
UNPOL Commissioner Luis Carrilho said that he is pleased with the Timorese people as they understood and respected PNTL and UNPOL role to secure the election process.
Ruak and Lu-Olo go to second round
Independente (cover page)
The presidential election provisional results show that there is no major winner in the election, and that presidential candidates Taur Matan Ruak and Francisco "Lu-Olo" Guterres will move to the second round.
The total votes for Lu-Olo is 28.31% and for Taur Matan Ruak is 25.04%.
Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão called on all citizens to accept the election results.
"I am calling on the youth and candidates’ supporters to show to ourselves and the world that we are able to maintain the growth of democracy and maintain tolerance and respect," said Gusmão.
Horta: I am happy to receive the election results
Diário Nacional 19 March 2012
Presidential candidate José Ramos-Horta said that he is pleased with the results, whether he wins or loses the race to become president of the republic.
Ramos-Horta spoke to journalists at the voting centre in Metiaut, Dili on Saturday.
Horta said that Lu-Olo, Lasama, TMR, and Jose Luis Guterres are able to lead Timor-Leste into the future, and encouraged them to strengthen peace, unity and stability if the Timorese people elect any of them to be president.
Horta said that he appreciates the efforts of Timorese people to strengthen stability from the first day of the campaign up to election day.
CNE files 10 electoral offenses, three submitted to Public Prosecution
Independente (cover page)
The National Election Commission (CNE) President Faustino Cardoso said that they identified ten electoral offenses and they already submitted three of them to the Public Prosecution.
"CNE received 10 cases presented by Ruak’s promotion team, the Timor-Leste Press Club (TLPC), Partido Republicano, from the promotion team of Lu-Olo,"
"CNE responded to such claims and some of them have been resolved. Three of them as electoral offenses have been sent to the Public," said Cardoso.
He added that the campaigns went well within 15 days, even though there an incident occurred but it did not have a major impact.
Lasama worried about Gusmão’s presence at STAE
Diário Nacional, 19 March 2012
Presidential candidate Fernando de Araujo Lasama declared his concerns to STAE-CNE about the presence of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão at STAE’s office.
Lasama made the comment at CNE’s office on 16 March while meeting with the 12 presidential candidates and the promotion teams about the election.
Lasama said that Gusmão is also a campaigner for TMR; therefore, Lasama is worried that Gusmão’s presence at the STAE office may interfere in STAE’s duties.
However, Lasama believes that Gusmão did not do anything at STAE’s office.
STAE Director Tomas Cabral said that article 12 says that STAE is accountable to the government; Cabral added that the prime minister’s presence at STAE was to support STAE to speed up the distribution of ballot papers to the districts.
Horta says that electoral law drafters are brainless
Independente (cover page)
President of the Republic José Ramos-Horta said that whoever drafted the electoral law is brainless, because the law forces people who have no money to pay for public transportation to return to their homes to vote in their villages.
"I was sad when I passed through Manatuto I saw thousands of people in open trucks and on motorbikes who went back to their villages even though it was raining,’
"I am angry because the electoral law forces poor people and small vendors in Hali-Laran and Comoro markets who have no money but they have to go to their districts such as Baucau, Lospalos, Ainaro, Aileu and others,’
"It seems that whoever produced the law has no brain. People have to spend US$30 to go to Oecussi and Suai. It made me upset with the electoral law. We produce the law to facilitate people to participate [in the election] and not to make them face difficulties," said Horta.
Lu-Olo: No political force can divide Fretilin party
Suara Timor Lorosae (cover page)
President of the Fretilin Party, Francisco Guterres ‘Lu-Olo’ said that he received a lot of votes in the eastern part of Timor-Leste, which means that no political force is able to divide Fretilin party members in those districts.
Lu-Olo said that the party is still strong because since the presidential and parliamentary elections in 2007 Fretilin has consistently received a lot of votes in those districts.
Lu-Olo said that he is fully confident to win the presidential election because his supporters are committed to vote for him to become the next president of the republic.
International News
East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta admits poll defeat
BBC News Asia, 19 March 2012
East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta has admitted defeat and congratulated his rivals after the first round of the country's presidential election.
Mr Ramos-Horta said he would hand over power to the winner on 19 May.
Opposition leader Francisco Guterres and former guerrilla leader Taur Matan Ruak were ahead after at least 70% of the votes were counted, based on data from the election commission.
The two candidates face a run-off on 21 April.
The electoral commission is still counting the votes and has yet to announce the final results. So far, Mr Guterres has a narrow lead over Mr Ruak, with Mr Ramos-Horta trailing in third place.
"I congratulate the two candidates who continue into the second round," he said at a news conference.
Mr Ramos-Horta, a Nobel peace prize winner, has been a key figure in East Timor politics since 1999. He defeated Mr Guterres in the 2007 run-off after coming second in the first round.
He served as foreign minister, prime minister and eventually president from 2007.
The presidency is a largely ceremonial role, but the election comes in a year of security transition, with UN forces scheduled to leave by the end of the year.
East Timor gained independence in 2002 after three years of UN administration, which followed more than two decades of bloody guerrilla warfare during Indonesian rule.
Twelve candidates took part in this election.
Peaceful polls
News Straits Times (Malaysia), 19 March 2012
AT the time of this writing, incumbent Nobel Prize-winning President Jose Ramos-Horta was trailing in third place in the presidential polls in Timor Leste. The front runner was leader of the main opposition Fretilin Party, Francisco "Lu-Olo" Guterres, who also won the first round of the 2007 presidential election. Coming in second place was former army chief Taur Matan Ruak, who is backed by the National Congress for the Reconstruction of East Timor, the party of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao. In fourth place was speaker of parliament Fernando Lasama de Araujo, who came in third in the first round in 2007 and endorsed Ramos-Horta in the second round. In other words, the early results show that the race for the presidency of Timor Leste is running true to form.
It was widely expected that it would be a three-way battle between Gutteres, Ruak and Ramos-Horta, with de Araujo a possible dark horse, and the other eight candidates contesting the elections unlikely to receive significant support. Though it is much too early to say who will eventually emerge as the top two, whatever the final results may be, what is clear is that a run-off would be necessary as it was five years ago. The closeness of the race points to the fact that there will be no outright winner with a clear majority.
What is also clear is that the people of Timor Leste turned out in larger numbers -- 626,000 this year compared with 524,000 five years ago -- and were able to cast their votes free from intimidation, threats and violence. This is not to say that past presidential elections have been violent. Indeed, the first one in 2002 and the second in 2007 were largely incident-free. But the same cannot be said of the country in general. Indeed, the presidential and parliamentary elections of 2007 were held against a backdrop of the violence that broke out following the military mutiny in 2006. In 2008, there were attempts to assassinate the president and prime minister. But since then, the security situation has improved.
The fact that the campaign period and election day in the first round of this year's presidential polls have been virtually free of violence is further testimony to the political progress that has been made. At this rate, this young nation will have much to celebrate when it marks the 10th year of its founding in May. The hope is that when Timor Leste again goes to the polls in June, things will be just as peaceful.
Ramos-Horta out as East Timor heads for run-off
The Western Australia/AFP, 19 March 2012
DILI - East Timor's President Jose Ramos-Horta has lost his bid for re-election, failing to make it to a run-off in the country's second presidential vote as a free nation, preliminary results showed Sunday.
The results pointed to a second-round showdown between the opposition Fretilin party's Francisco "Lu Olo" Guterres and former armed forces chief Taur Matan Ruak, an official from the election secretariat said.
Ramos-Horta, who shared the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to bring peace to his homeland, lagged in third place after more than 70 percent of votes were counted, official Luiz Fernando Valls told AFP.
"Guterres and Ruak will go through to the second round on April 16, based on this preliminary count," he said.
The shift to candidates with lower profiles on the world stage was "emblematic of the desire to move on from being an international cause", Michael Leach, politics lecturer from Australia's Swinburne University of Technology, told AFP.
It reflected the people of East Timor's desire "to move on from 10 years of international state building", he added.
Ramos Horta, a popular leader who survived a 2008 assassination attempt, said Saturday that if he was not re-elected he would have "to struggle to choose what to do".
The 62-year-old added that he had a long-standing commitment to a Western literary agency to write a book.
None of the 12 candidates who contested Saturday's election were able to garner more than 50 percent of the vote constitutionally required for an outright win.
The vote was the first in a series of key events for the poor and chronically unstable country as it enters a pivotal period.
In May, East Timor will celebrate 10 years of independence from Indonesia, and in June, voters will choose a new government in a general election.
At the end of the year the nation of 1.1 million people bids goodbye to UN forces stationed in the country since 1999.
The preliminary results showed Guterres on around 28 percent, Ruak on 25 percent, and Ramos on 18 percent, with 460,216 votes or about 73 percent of the total votes cast counted, Valls said.
Guterres, 57, who heads the opposition Fretilin party, which is synonymous with the resistance, lost the presidency to Ramos-Horta in a run-off in 2007.
Ruak, 56, who has campaigned in his camouflage fatigues, has vowed to introduce mandatory military service if elected.
He is in the run-off despite being accused by the United Nations of illegal weapons transfers in 2006, when rioting and factional fighting had the nation on the brink of civil war.
Around the country Sunday, Timorese people had their eyes glued to their television sets, watching the changing figures broadcast live by the country's electoral commission on state radio and television.
Everyone from shopkeepers selling traditional handicrafts in Dili's Tias market to candidates' spokesmen mingling with journalists was talking about who would emerge on top.
Votes were being counted by hand, some in remote areas with poor communications, and full results were not due until later in the week, according to election officials.
National election commission president Faustino Cardoso Gomes told a press conference earlier there were "some irregularities" during the election process.
"Some polling stations ran out of ballot papers, for instance in Dili and some other places, but all have been resolved," he said.
Thomas Cabral, head of elections secretariat overseeing the polls, said heavy rains during the elections had affected voter turnout and the transport of ballot papers in some cities.
Opposition Leader Leads in Timor Leste's Presidential Election
Xinhua (China), 18 March 2012
Francisco "Lu-Olo" Guterres, leader of Timor Leste main opposition Fretilin party, is leading in the preliminary result of the presidential election released on midday Sunday.
Among the 328,946 valid votes that have been counted, Lu- Olo won 27.62 percent or more than 90,000 votes, said Tomas de Rorario Cabral, director general of the election management body of STAE.
Lu- Olo was trailed by former armed forces chief General Taur Matan Ruak, who secured 24.23 percent of the votes. Incumbent President Jose Ramos-Horta and Democratic Party chief Fernando Lasama de Araujo ranked the third and fourth place, winning 19.13 percent and 17.78 percent of the votes respectively.
The number of voters have surged from 524,000 in 2007 to more than 626,000 this year, according to the National Commission of Election. A runoff will take place in April if no candidate secures an absolute majority in the first round.
Ramos-Horta won the 2007 election against Lu-Olo in the runoff with the backing of Gusmao's National Reconstruction Congress of Timor Leste party or CNRT.
CNRT did not name its candidate in the election but supports former armed forces chief Taur Matan Ruak.
President in Timor Leste is generally considered playing merely a ceremonial role, but Saturday's poll is crucial to gauge the popularity of Fretilin, the resistance movement that fought for Timor Leste's independence, ahead of the June parliamentary election.
E. Timor's oil 'no solution' to grinding poverty
Agence France-Presse, 18 March 2012
East Timor's oil sector may be pouring more money than ever into state coffers but the grinding poverty on the dirt streets of the capital underlines the challenge facing whoever emerges as the winner of weekend elections.
The half-island nation went to the polls on Saturday to elect a new president to preside over a country where about half the 1.1 million population lives below the poverty line.
East Timor is the world's most oil-dependent economy with energy reserves accounting for around 90 percent of state revenue.
Although oil and gas have bolstered the treasury -- its Petroleum Fund recently swelled to $10 billion -- the majority of the population survive on agriculture, prompting warnings that energy alone is not the solution for Asia's poorest nation.
In Dili, rains bring mud canals that cut through shanty town neighbourhoods of huts slapped together with wooden planks and rusted tin roofs.
Destitute children without a stitch of clothing play in the streets alongside pigs, chickens and stray dogs.
Infrastructure is limited to a few paved roads, a single port and a tiny airport with one baggage carousel. There is no local currency -- everything runs on US dollars.
The abject poverty, in a country celebrating its first decade of independence from Indonesia's 24-year brutal and destructive military occupation, has fuelled heated debate about how to use the Petroleum Fund.
Incumbent President Jose Ramos Horta, a Nobel laureate who is up against 11 other candidates, has promised to prioritise infrastructure, health and education if re-elected.
The fund, established by the government in 2005 to ensure sustainable use of energy revenues, is invested in US bonds and other assets.
But the long-term viability of the East Timor's energy business is contested, with modest exports from offshore fields it shares with Australia compounding concerns that proven reserves are relatively small.
"This is a petrol state without much petrol," said Charles Scheiner of local independent development organisation La'o Hamutuk.
"The government must concentrate on agriculture, fishing, tourism and other sustainable industries instead of pouring resources into developing the energy sector, which one day will dry up."
The organisation believes oil and gas will enrich foreign companies and an emerging elite, but leave the rest of the population behind.
Gualdino da Silva, president of the National Petroleum Authority, told AFP the Petroleum Fund grew to $10 billion as of Wednesday.
Most of the money comes from a project in the Timor Sea operated by ConocoPhillips.
But Kitan, an offshore oil field operated by ENI, has not been profitable since starting operations about eight months ago, da Silva added.
East Timor's hopes of an energy bonanza are pinned to the offshore Greater Sunrise gas and oil field, which is at the heart of a dispute with Australia over which country should receive the gas for refining.
It contains about 5.13 trillion cubic feet of dry gas and 225.9 million barrels of condensate, according to Woodside, its Australian operator.
Lawmaker Aderito Hugo Da Costa believes the contested field is "crucial" to the nation's future.
"If it is resolved in our favour it will create jobs, build infrastructure and transform the face of East Timor," he said.
But others remain unconvinced.
La'o Hamutuk estimates energy reserves will generate about $50 billion over 40 years -- even assuming that 70 times more oil and gas are found in the future.
"That is about $1.88 for each citizen for each day," Scheiner said. "Petroleum is not a solution to East Timor's future problems."
Australia says troops could soon leave East Timor
Associated Press, 19 March 2012
CANBERRA, Australia — Australian Defense Minister Stephen Smith says parliamentary elections planned in East Timor could allow international troops to begin withdrawing after six years of restoring stability to the fledgling Southeast Asian nation.
Smith on Monday welcomed the success of weekend presidential elections. The official results won't be known until Tuesday, but the incumbent, Nobel laureate Jose Ramos Horta, had nowhere near the support needed to advance to an April 21 run-off between the two front-runners.
Smith says if the run-off election and June parliamentary elections are similarly successful, Australia will discuss with the government, United Nations and New Zealand a drawdown of the 470 Australian and New Zealand troops stationed in East Timor.
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