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Xanana Gusmão-led opposition wins most votes in parliamentary election
Gusmão's National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT) won about 42 percent of ballots cast with 100 percent of the votes counted, according to election commission data carried by broadcaster Radio-Televisão Timor Leste.
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Xanana Gusmao, East Timor's former first president, visits Alm's grave. B.J Habibie, Indonesia former third president at the Heroes Cemetery, Kalibata, Jakarta, on Sunday, September 15, 2019. (JP/Narabeto Korohama)
T
he party of Timor Leste independence hero Xanana Gusmão has won most votes in a parliamentary election, preliminary results in state media showed on Tuesday, boosting his chances of his return as premier and a new phase of opposition rule.
Gusmão's National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT) won about 42 percent of ballots cast with 100 percent of the votes counted, according to election commission data carried by broadcaster Radio-Televisão Timor Leste.
Reuters could not reach the election commission for confirmation on Tuesday.
The Revolution Front for an Independent Timor-Leste (FRETILIN), the party of Prime Minister José Maria Vasconcelos, popularly known as Taur Matan Ruak, was second with about 26 percent of the votes, with the rest split among 15 parties.
Sunday's contest was the fifth parliamentary election since Timor Leste, a country of 1.3 million people that gained full independence in 2002 after a quarter-century rule by neighbouring Indonesia.
The former Portuguese colony must now wait to see who will be chosen as prime minister by the newly formed legislature.
The election had been billed as a battle of two former resistance figures, CNRT's Gusmão, 76, and FRETILIN's Mari Alkatiri, 73, with Gusmão seen by analysts as the favourite.
Heavily dependent on its fast-depleting oil reserves for revenue, the half-island nation faces a challenge with poverty and diversifying its economy, which at $3.6 billion is one of Asia's smallest.
The election follows last year's victory in a presidential ballot for independence leader and Nobel laureate José Ramos-Horta, also of the CNRT party.
Gusmão, a former guerrilla leader, was Timor Leste's first president and served as prime minister from 2007 until his resignation from the post in 2015.
Voters formed long queues, carrying umbrellas for shade as they patiently waited for their turn until polling stations closed at 3 pm (0600 GMT) Sunday.
"All people came to give their voices, because one voice can make a change," 61-year-old Cesar dos Santos de Carvalho told AFP at a polling station in the capital Dili.
"I hope the political party that I chose can put attention on health, education, infrastructure and agriculture, because these are the priority sectors."
Nazario Gregorio Guterres, another voter, stressed the need to improve infrastructure in Timor Leste, one of the world's poorest countries.
"Just (look at) our capital city, Dili. It's difficult to get electricity and clean water. The party I chose must fix roads, electricity, and provide clean water," said Guterres.
The young democracy, a former Portuguese colony, has 890,000 registered voters, and a total of 17 parties are vying for seats, but the election is expected to mainly be a showdown between the two largest.
