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Jokowi welcomes Timor Leste president
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Grow together: President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (left), Timor Leste President Francisco "Lú Olo" Guterres (second left), Timor Leste First Lady Cidália Lopes Nobre Mouzinho Guterres (second right) and First Lady Iriana (third right) plant a tree on the grounds of the Bogor Palace in West Java. (JP/Anton Hermansyah)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo met Timor Leste President Francisco “Lú Olo” Guterres during the latter’s state visit at the Bogor Palace in Bogor, West Java, on Thursday.
Lú Olo arrived in Bogor at 10 a.m. Accompanied by First Lady Iriana and First Lady Cidália Lopes Nobre Mouzinho Guterres, the two leaders later planted a tree in the grounds of the palace.
This visit was Lú Olo’s first overseas trip after being inaugurated as president on May 19, 2017. The ex-guerrilla of the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (Fretilin) won the election after securing 57.1 percent of the vote.
In a parliamentary election on July 22, 2017, Fretilin, as the ruling party, failed to win a majority of votes. Led by Timor Leste's first prime minister Mari Alkatiri, it won 29.7 percent of the vote, or 23 out of 65 parliamentary seats. The National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT) led by former president Xanana Gusmão won 29.5 percent of the vote, or 22 seats.
Fretilin later entered a coalition with the Democratic Party, which won seven seats, resulting in a combined 30 seats. Meanwhile, the CNRT entered a coalition with the Alliance for Change and Progress (AMP) and other parties, resulting in a combined 35 seats.
On Jan. 25, Lú Olo dissolved the parliament and called for a fresh election. The reelection held on May 12 saw AMP win 49.6 percent of the vote, or 34 seats. Xanana later named ex-president Taur Matan Ruak as prime minister. (ebf)
