East Timor: Ramos-Horta wins presidential election

Independence leader Jose Ramos-Horta has won East Timor's presidential elections, according to preliminary results released on Wednesday. 

With 100% of the votes counted, data from the election administration agency showed the Nobel Peace Prize laureate had won 62.09% of the votes ⁠— well ahead of his rival, incumbent President Francisco "Lu Olo" Guterres, who had 37.91%.

Voters in the nation of 1.3 million people cast their ballots in the second and final round of the presidential election on Tuesday.

Ramos-Horta, one of East Timor's best known political figures, convincingly won the election's first round on March 19, but failed to exceed 50% of the votes that were required to avoid the runoff. 

While Ramos-Horta received 46.6% , Guterres won 22.1%, and 14 remaining candidates split the rest of the votes.

Ramos-Horta previously served as foreign minister, prime minister and then the country's second president, from 2007 to 2012. He came out of retirement to challenge Guterres after accusing him of violating the constitution.

Face-off between resistance fighters

Ramos-Horta, 72, and Guterres, 67, were resistance fighters during Indonesia's occupation of East Timor. Both leaders have blamed each other for political paralysis in the country.

"I call on people to accept whatever the results of this election wisely," Guterres told reporters as he cast his vote in the capital, Dili.

Ramos-Horta, after casting his vote, said people were tired of the political feud between both leaders, which has led to increasing social and economic problems as well as soaring food prices.

"People in East Timor want a new leader to solve the economic problems in this country," he said. 

What is behind political tension in East Timor?

Under East Timor's current political system, the president appoints a government and has the power to veto ministers or dissolve parliament.

In 2018, Guterres refused to swear in some ministers from the National Congress of the Reconstruction of East Timor (CNRT), the party that backs Ramos-Horta.

This led to Xanana Gusmao, East Timor's first president and head of the CNRT, describing the current government as "constitutionally Illegitimate."

The resulting government was composed of ministers from two smaller parties, while several portfolios remain vacant.

The latest impasse led to the resignation of Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak in February 2020.

While he agreed to stay until a new government is formed, his government had to operate without an annual budget, relying on monthly injections from its sovereign fund savings, called the Petroleum Fund.

Ramos-Horta has signaled that if elected, he may use presidential powers to dissolve parliament and call for early parliamentary elections.

nm,see/wmr (Reuters, AP)