Former militant ‘wins E. Timor election’

Francisco Guterres, cener left, is congratulated by his supporters on his victory in the first round of the presidential election in Dili on Tuesday. (AFP)

DILI: A former guerrilla fighter has won East Timor’s presidential election in just one round, an early count indicated Tuesday, in a sign of growing stability for Asia’s youngest nation.
With most ballots counted, Francisco Guterres — known by his nom de guerre “Lu Olo” — had received over 57 percent of votes cast in Monday’s poll, according to the election commission.
That is comfortably above the 50 percent needed to avoid a run-off. Guterres’ closest rival, Education Minister Antonio de Conceicao, was on 33 percent in a crowded field of eight candidates, election commission chief Alcino Baris told AFP.
If final results confirm Guterres’ victory, he will take over the largely ceremonial role at a challenging time for the tiny half-island nation 15 years after it gained independence from Indonesia.
Key oil reserves are running dry and the government is struggling to resolve a long-running row with Australia over lucrative energy fields.
It will be the first time since 2002 that a presidential election in the country has been decided in just one round, if the final results due in several days confirm Guterres has won.
He was backed by the country’s second-biggest party Fretilin, which he leads, as well as by independence hero Xanana Gusmao and his CNRT party, the largest. “A strong vote in favor of a candidate is positive,” Damien Kingsbury, an East Timor expert from Australia’s Deakin University who was in the country as an election observer, told AFP.
The vote — the first presidential election since the departure of UN peacekeepers in 2012 — ran smoothly and there were reports of only low-level and sporadic unrest in the run-up.
While the presidency is largely ceremonial, it can have a key role in keeping the peace between feuding politicians.
Guterres is from a humble family and like many members of East Timor’s political class took part in the bloody struggle against Indonesian occupation.
The vote sets the stage for more important parliamentary elections later in the year that will decide the government and the prime minister.
Many of the candidates were not serious contenders and were more concerned with raising the profile of their parties before the more important parliamentary elections that will decide the government and prime minister.
Well-known figures closely associated with the independence struggle have in the past held the presidency, including Gusmao and Nobel Peace laureate Jose Ramos-Horta. But many have now withdrawn from the front line of politics to let a new generation take over.
East Timor remains a deeply poor country and the government has struggled to improve the livelihoods of its 1.1 million people.
As well as diversifying the resource-rich economy away from a reliance on oil, the country’s leaders must agree a new sea border with Australia after tearing up a contentious maritime treaty that cuts through energy fields.