Timor - Elections 2022
Timor-Leste is a multiparty, parliamentary republic. After May 2018 parliamentary elections, which were free, fair, and peaceful, Taur Matan Ruak became prime minister, leading a three-party coalition government. The 2017 presidential and parliamentary elections were also free and fair. In contrast with previous years, these elections were conducted without extensive assistance from the international community.
Significant human rights issues included: corruption; lack of investigation and accountability for violence against women; the worst forms of child labor; and trafficking in persons. The government took some steps to prosecute members and officials of the security services who used excessive force but avoided conducting corruption (and labor law) investigations of politicians, government members, and leaders of the country’s independence struggle. Public perceptions of impunity persisted.
On 19 March 2022 voting was under way in East Timor, as Asia’s youngest nation held its fifth presidential election since independence amid concerns over political stability and economic security. More than 835,000 of the country's 1.3 million people were registered to vote. The 16 presidential hopefuls include former resistance fighter and incumbent President Francisco “Lu Olo” Guterres, as well as independence figure and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos-Horta, and a former Catholic priest.
While the nation’s independence figures still dominate the field, for the first time there are also four female candidates, including deputy prime minister Armanda Berta Dos Santos. A recent poll by the national university showed that Ramos-Horta, 72, former defence forces commander Lere Anan Timur and Guterres are the favorites. If no candidate wins an outright majority, the vote will proceed to a runoff on April 19 between the top two contenders.
Approaching 20 years since independence after the end of a brutal occupation by Indonesia, East Timor has for long spells struggled with political instability. After the last elections in 2018, Guterres refused to swear in some ministers from the National Congress of the Reconstruction of East Timor (CNRT), a political party led by former Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, who also served as president of the country for some time.
In a country heavily dependent on dwindling supplies of oil and gas, economic diversification and the role of young voters have also been key election issues, with an estimated 20 percent of voters reaching the voting age of 17 and casting their ballot for the first time. East Timor's brief democratic history has been rocky, with leaders facing widespread poverty, unemployment and corruption. Its economy relies on offshore oil revenues that are currently shrinking. Under the 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. So the government was composed of ministers from two smaller parties, while several portfolios remain vacant. CNRT has accused Guterres and Fretilin of acting unconstitutionally, while Freitlin his party said Horta was not fit to be president, accusing him of causing a deadly crisis when he was prime minister in the early 2000's.
In 2020 Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak threatened to quit after the government repeatedly failed to pass a budget. His government has since lacked an annual budget, relying on monthly payments from its sovereign fund savings, the Petroleum Fund. East Timor depends on revenues from its offshore oil and gas reserves, accounting for 90% of its gross domestic product. But experts say the sovereign fund, worth nearly $19 billion (€17 billion), could run out within a decade as the government's annual withdrawals are now higher than its investment returns.
Incumbent leader Francisco "Lu Olo" Guterres faced stiff competition from Nobel laureate Jose Ramos-Horta and 14 other candidates. "I am confident that I will win the election again," Guterres told reporters after casting his vote in Dili, the capital. "I call on people to accept whatever the result, and I am ready to work with whoever wins this election," he added. During an election debate, Guterres pledged to ensure peace and stability, defend East Timor’s sovereignty and follow the constitution if he won a new term.
Ramos-Horta, who is backed by Xanana’s CNRT party, said he was running because he felt the current president had “exceeded his powers”. In East Timor’s political system, the president appoints a government and has the power to veto ministers or dissolve parliament. Ramos-Horta promised voters a change of course. "We have voted based on our own wish for a new president who is able to maintain stability, to develop our economy and to change the current situation," he said.
The winner of the election will assume power May 20, on the 20th anniversary of East Timor's independence from Indonesia, which had invaded the country, a former Portuguese colony, in 1975.
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