ETimor's parliament sits without govt

Published: Monday July 30, 2007
AFP

Lawmakers elected in East Timor's parliamentary elections last month sat for their first session Monday even though they have failed to break the deadlock on the formation of a government.

All 65 members of the tiny nation's parliament turned up for work, including former prime minister Mari Alkatiri and his chief rival, independence hero Xanana Gusmao.

None of the 14 parties contesting last month's polls won an absolute majority of seats. Alkatiri's Fretilin party, which had governed since East Timor's independence in 2002, won just 21 seats.

Gusmao's National Congress for the Reconstruction of East Timor (CNRT) won 18 seats, but has allied with smaller parties and wants to form a coalition government with 37 seats. Seven parties in total won seats.

The constitution is unclear on who should form a government and select the prime minister in such a scenario, but final authority rests with the president, Nobel peace laureate Jose Ramos-Horta.

Ramos-Horta, who has been pushing for a unity government, has warned that if the parties do not reach their own agreement by Monday, he will act unilaterally to make a decision.

The president fears the CNRT-led coalition would be unstable, but has said Fretilin cannot form a government alone as it won insufficient votes.

Elections in the former Portuguese colony followed a year of sporadic violence and political tension since bloodshed on the streets of the capital Dili last year that left at least 37 people dead.

Tensions have risen again on Dili's streets over the past few weeks, with repeated low-level run-ins between UN police and youth gangs. Ten UN vehicles have been damaged in incidents, according to police.

More than 2,000 UN police and Australian-led international peacekeepers, who were first called in to subdue last year's violence, are currently overseeing security in the half-island nation.

East Timor gained independence after a bloody separation from occupying Indonesia, which ruled it for 24 years.