Notícias

AFP – April 11, 2007
East Timor sets parliament vote date
From correspondents in East Timor

East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao said the troubled nation will hold parliamentary elections on June 30, after his successor is selected in a run-off vote.

Mr Gusmao chose not to stand for re-election in the impoverished nation's April 9 presidential poll, which will be decided in a run-off on May 8 after candidates failed to win a majority.

The charismatic former guerrilla leader has said he will run for the much more powerful job of Prime Minister.

The presidency is a largely ceremonial office in East Timor.

Mr Gusmao intends to join a new party, the National Congress of Reconstruction of Timor, to contest the June poll.

He faces a formidable obstacle in East Timor's ruling Fretilin party, whose presidential candidate Francisco “Lu-Olo” Guterres is through to the May run-off and will most likely face Jose Ramos-Horta, the current Premier.

The presidential election is being seen as a trial run for the June 30 poll.


ABC – Wednesday, April 11, 2007. 11:23pm (AEST)

Aust-E Timor relations will suffer if Fretilin wins: Ramos Horta

East Timor's Prime Minister Jose Ramos Horta has warned of a new hostility in relations with Australia if Fretilin candidate Francisco Guterres wins the presidential election.

Mr Guterres, known as Lu Olo, is ahead in the official election count, with 29 per cent of the national vote and Dr Ramos Horta is currently in second place.


Dr Ramos Horta says Lu Olo and other Fretilin leaders have engaged in a hostile anti-Australia campaign in recent weeks by speaking out against the presence of Australian troops in East Timor.

He says it would be to both countries' detriment if Lu Olo wins the election.

"Whoever is the Prime Minister must have the best possible relationship with our immediate neighbours and that means Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and other ASEAN countries," he said.

"That's my greatest concern for this country, if Mr Lu Olo wins the presidency."

Meanwhile, five of the other presidential candidates have complained of serious fraud in the ballot and are demanding a recount.

They are threatening to mount a court challenge if the complaint is ignored.

The latest poll figures include voting from key towns in the east, where Fretilin has its strongest support.

The five candidates have written to the electoral commission alleging serious fraud in the process, saying there is a discrepancy between the number of voters and the number of votes and evidence that Fretilin has intimidated voters.

Independent observers also question why 25 per cent of votes were declared invalid, suggesting some vote counters may have fraudulently changed votes or miscounted them to give Fretilin the advantage.

Radio New Zealand - 11 Apr 2007, 9:02pm

Fretilin man in next round of East Timor presidential race

East Timor's National Election Commission says the presidential vote will go to a second round, with the ruling Fretilin party's Francisco Guterres facing off against one other challenger.

Mr Guterres has a 28% share, with 350,000 votes counted and is already cleared for the second round of voting.

The second contender in the run-off, provisionally set down for 8 May, is expected to be either Prime Minister Jose Ramos Horta, an independent presidential candidate, or the Democratic Party's Fernando de Araujo.

Earlier another non-government election group, KOMEG, said that the Fretilin party candidate was in the lead.

Eight candidates are vying to replace independence fighter Xanana Gusmao as president. With more than two-thirds of the votes counted, none of the eight candidates has an outright majority.

A second round between the two top candidates is held if no one wins more than the 50% needed to win outright.

Call for public counting
Five of the eight candidates have said they will refuse to accept the result unless counting stops immediately and another count is conducted in public.

The five have formally protested to the election commission that Monday's poll was not conducted fairly.

They are also calling on the commission to hold a public counting of the votes in the presence of all eight candidates.

One of the candidates is the Democratic Party's Mr de Araujo, who was coming third on Wednesday afternoon in a tight race for president.

The group's concerns include an alleged climate of intimidation by some members of the ruling Fretilin Party, discrepancies between the number of collected votes and the number of registered voters, and inadequate numbers of ballot boxes.

Troops braced for violence
New Zealand troops are part of an international force ensuring security during the poll, and diplomats from New Zealand are among those monitoring the election.

The New Zealand commander in Dili, Major Bill Keelan, says the relative peace may not continue and troops are bracing themselves for any violence in case some groups take exception to the results.

A total of 523,000 people are registered to vote in the country's first presidential election since it gained independence in 2002.


ABC – Transcript The World Today Programme - Wednesday, 11 April, 2007 - 12:37
New candidate takes lead in East Timor presidential race
Reporter: Anne Barker


ELEANOR HALL: Let's go now to Dili, where East Timor's electoral commission has just released the latest figures on the presidential poll.


There've been conflicting reports about which candidate is in the lead in East Timor's first presidential election since independence, with the commission yesterday indicating that the ruling Fretilin candidate would not even make it into the second round of voting.


But today, with around 70 per cent of the vote counted, Fretilin's candidate, Francisco Guterres or Lu Olo, has taken the lead.


Correspondent Anne Barker is in Dili, and she joins us from there now.


So, Anne, what is the latest today from East Timor's electoral commission?


ANNE BARKER: Well, Eleanor, the figures are very interesting. If you talk to the National Electoral Commission, which is the official sort of body doing the count, the three top candidates, Francisco Guterres or Lu Olo, and Jose Ramos-Horta and Fernando de Araujo, the leader of the Democratic Party are neck and neck on about 21 per cent or varying degrees within, between 21 and 22 per cent.

But interestingly, their figures match figures that have come from an electoral observer group, and they're not official. But the only centres they don't have votes for are the Baucau and Lautem, two centres in the east of the country.


When you take into account those figures from the electoral observer group, in fact Fretilin has made very strong gains in those areas. So, if you include them, Fretilin would have perhaps 27 per cent of the vote, and Jose Ramos-Horta perhaps 23. Lasama or Fernando de Araujo would be on 21 or 22.


So, it is neck and neck between Jose Ramos-Horta and Fernando de Araujo, but I think when we get final figures perhaps later today, it looks as if Fretilin has taken the lead in some of those areas in the east.


ELEANOR HALL: Now, and this is a very different outlook from 24 hours ago, what's caused the confusion there?


ANNE BARKER: Well, I think yesterday we were really talking from figures that had been counted in Dili. And certainly Jose Ramos-Horta is the clear winner when you take into account the 26 polling booths in Dili.


He had something like 30 per cent of the vote here in Dili, whereas the Fretilin candidate was considerably less. But Fretilin's stronghold is certainly in the east of the country, historically that's where a lot of the independent fighters have come from and they make up the core, if you like, of the Fretilin membership.


So, once those figures have started coming in, and that's been a slow process, it has changed the overall vote.

ELEANOR HALL: So, is there any doubt now that there will be a second round vote and that it will be between Lu Olo and Jose Ramos-Horta?


ANNE BARKER: Well, there's absolutely no doubt there will be a second run-off election probably in early May because the only way that anyone could win from last Monday's vote would be to get 50 per cent of the count or a clear majority.


Even on the figures that we got from the observer group, Fretilin seems only to have as high as 27 per cent of the vote. That's a long way short of 50 per cent. They're basing their count on about 70 per cent of the votes that have been counted, and you expect that the remaining 30 per cent would either follow that trend or even if they change the trend, it wouldn't be enough to get anybody over that 50 per cent.


So, certainly there will be an election next month between probably, possibly Lu Olo and maybe Jose Ramos-Horta, but it is feasible that Fernando de Araujo could sort of come from behind and just beat Jose Ramos-Horta, but I think the expectation is still that it will be Jose Ramos-Horta versus Francisco Guterres or Lu Olo.


ELEANOR HALL: How much of a relief is it for Fretilin from the people you've been talking to there that they are actually going to be in this second round vote. I mean, was there a sense of shock when they were looking at not making it in to that position?


ANNE BARKER: Well, look, quite the opposite. They gave a press conference last night where they were planning to have 40 per cent of the vote. But of course, they're going on their own count, their own scrutineers around the country, sort of ringing in with their own tally which doesn't match what we've got from the National Electoral Commission.


Certainly, they never expected to lose, they never expected to be out of that election next month. But what they have had to concede is that they didn't have the outright majority on the day.


If you spoke to Lu Olo on Monday as he was voting and other Fretilin leaders, they were adamant that there would be a majority vote for Fretilin on Monday, meaning there wouldn't need to be a second election.


So, I think they're disappointed that they've even had to go to a run-off election, but they always believed that they would get the strongest vote on the day.


ELEANOR HALL: Now, Anne, the head of the UN mission in East Timor has been talking optimistically about a rapprochement between the leaders of the rival political groups, whatever the final result. How realistic is it to expect this election to bring to an end, the political and generational divisions that have fuelled much of the violence recently?


ANNE BARKER: Well, look, I think overall people are saying this election campaign has been overwhelmingly peaceful. There was certainly no incidents on voting day, even though there was sporadic violence and a lot of sort of accusations of intimidation and dirty tricks on both sides in the weeks leading up to the polls.


But I think it's been a pleasant surprise for most observers that the leaders and the candidates and their supporters haven't been sort of more at each other's throats, if you like, in the last few weeks.

So, I think, yeah, there is an expectation that whatever the vote is, whatever the final result is, the hope is that people will accept that result, the East Timorese largely, the support of the Fretilin particularly will accept that result and there won't be any serious violence in the months ahead.

ELEANOR HALL: Anne Barker, thank you. Anne Barker, our Correspondent in Dili.


ABC - Wednesday, April 11, 2007. 7:41pm (AEST) (hora de Lisboa: 10:41)

Fretilin accused of fraud in East Timor poll
By Anne Barker

Candidates in East Timor's presidential election have complained of serious fraud in the ballot and are demanding a recount.

They are threatening to mount a court challenge if the complaint is ignored.

Five of the eight candidates have written a letter to the national electoral commission in Dili alleging serious irregularities in vote counting and intimidation of voters.

They have accused the ruling Fretilin Party of instilling a climate of terror and allege the number of ballots does not match the number of voters on election day.

The five candidates are demanding that all counting stop immediately, all ballot boxes be brought to one location in Dili and a recount begin in the presence of all candidates.

Fretilin has denied any dirty tricks during the campaign.

The official count so far puts three candidates neck and neck - Jose Ramos Horta, Fretilin's Francisco Gueterres, or Lu Olo, and the Democratic Party leader Fernando de Arauge.

Dr Ramos Horta, who is East Timor's Prime Minister, is among those calling for a recount.

But he says if he loses he will not challenge the result.

"If I don't appear in top two I will celebrate my electoral demise," he said. "I will not spend energy and time challenging anyone."

The latest official counting confirms Lu Olo has a clear lead over Dr Ramos Horta.

Figures from the Nation Electoral Commission show Lu Olo has nearly 29 per cent of the national vote, with Dr Ramos Horta coming second on 22 per cent.

The commission says so far the votes have been counted only at the district level and will be counted again to confirm the national result.

If the result is accurate, there will be a run-off election between the two lead candidates in May.


People's Daily - April 11, 2007 - 17:23

Horta, Lu Olo to go to runoff in Timor-Leste presidential poll

Two presidential candidates, Jose Ramos Horta and Francisco Guteres Lu-Olo of the biggest party Fretelin, might go to the second round poll on May 8, as they were on the top two of the latest counting from all districts in the new nation of Timor-Leste, the electoral commission said in Dili Wednesday.

Spokesman of the commission Martinho Gusmao said that the commission still needs to recount some complaint which could lead to a revision of the votes.

The highest position was posted by Lu-Olo with 28.79 percent of the total votes, followed by Horta with 22.60 percent, he said.

The spokesman said that only 357,766 votes were considered valid, but he declined to reveal the number of people casting votes on the Monday's election out of 511,336 people having the voting rights in the country.

Source: Xinhua


ABC – Transcript PM Programme - Tuesday, 10 April , 2007 18:18:22
East Timor election: counting continues
Reporter: Anne Barker


PETER CAVE: Counting is continuing in East Timor's first presidential elections and although what are being called technical problems are slowing down the count in districts outside the capital Dili, some observers are suggesting that the Fretilin candidate Francisco "Lu-Olo" Guterres may not even make it onto the ballot for what is increasingly looking like a second round of voting next month.

In Dili, with all but a handful of provision results now in, East Timor's current Prime Minister Jose Ramos Horta is leading with 30 per cent of the vote.


Our Correspondent Anne Barker is in Dili.

(to Anne Barker) Anne what are those technical problems that are slowing down the vote?


ANNE BARKER: Peter they seem to be fairly mundane, fairly minor glitches. There were some computer problems and electricity problems, even a generator, but because they were happening in remote areas where those things are obviously very important, especially for communications back with the capital, they have delayed, not so much the counting, but the transmission of that count back to Dili.


So, at this stage we've only got very rough figures from Dili. The individual booths that were counted last night and very little in the way of indications of just how the vote went in those outer areas.

PETER CAVE: I heard Australia's chief observer David Tollner quoted as saying that the slow count was a result of everything being made so transparent, are other international observers equally impressed with the conduct of the election?


ANNE BARKER: They are. And I think they're actually quite amazed that things went as smoothly and as peacefully as they did.


The United Nation's Head of Mission here, Atul Khare, today said that he's lived in or visited 93 countries, particularly working for the UN, and he said he's seen nothing like it. There was no murder, no assaults, no public disturbance, nothing at all. Not a single police report from around the country.


That is quite amazing when you consider there have been a few skirmishes and quite a lot of violence going back over the months since last year. But certainly in this election campaign it wasn't smooth sailing until the day itself.


So, certainly everybody is very happy. There was a huge turnout, it ran very peacefully and it was very smooth.


PETER CAVE: What's it been like today?


ANNE BARKER: Well today has been very quite actually. People have sort of gone back to their daily jobs. The polling booths were mostly held in schools. The schools are obviously open again after Easter and its children there now instead of politicians.


So, it's very much a waiting game.


You see people on the street corners reading the newspapers. The papers here are obviously full of the election and people are just waiting to hear, hopefully in the next day or so, just what the result will be.


PETER CAVE: I suppose it's not surprising that the Prime Minister is leading in Dili on that rough count that's in now, but are there any indications of what's happening in the east of the country, where Fretilin has its major power base?


ANNE BARKER: Well, if you speak to Fretilin, certainly they are confident that that's where they will win their strongest votes.


And it makes sense that Jose Ramos Horta would do well in Dili. He is known here, this is where he lives and works and people in Dili are probably more likely to have televisions and newspapers and probably recognise him, whereas, once you get out into those very remote areas he's a lesser known quantity.


Of course "Lu-Olo" too is probably not very well known outside of Dili either, but the Fretilin flag has played a very big part of their campaign. Everybody in East Timor knows the Fretilin flag, and in many cases I would hazard to guess that was enough for people to vote for him, simply because he's associated with that flag.


PETER CAVE: Where are those reports coming from that Fretilin may not even make it onto the next ballot?


ANNE BARKER: Well in Dili there have been some booths where "Lu-Olo" didn't even come second in the vote. He was third, fourth and I'm told even fifth in some cases.


Now, one observer I spoke to said, it was a bit confusing actually talking to him because on the one hand we don't have very many results from the regions, but he did say he's not aware of anywhere where "Lu-Olo" has actually won the vote.


So, today we were told that in Dili the leader of the Democratic Party in fact has polled roughly 25 per cent in Dili, whereas "Lu-Olo" has polled only about 20 per cent.


So if the top two candidates are Jose Ramos Horta and Fernando de Araujo or "Lasama" as he goes by, they will be the two people to go to a run-off election next month and not "Lu-Olo". It's no certainty that "Lu-Olo" will be the second person on that ballot paper.


PETER CAVE: Will a loss in the presidential election necessarily harm Fretilin's chances in the arguably much more important elections, the parliamentary elections later this year?


ANNE BARKER: Well look, yes and no.


I mean some people suggest that if you vote for someone other than Fretilin in the presidential poll then perhaps it's a bit like the Australian House of Representatives and the Senate, that you'll want a balance of power and you'll share the power between Fretilin perhaps at the Government level but someone else at the presidential level.


But I think that it's more likely that if Fretilin wins the presidential election this time round, that will suggest there is a strong enough support there for them to perhaps return to Government as well.

I think in many ways this is the first election since last year's violence so it's very much a litmus test as to people's attitudes towards Fretilin, because the party was blamed for a lot of last year's crisis.

And so if they're confident enough to put a Fretilin candidate as President, it might well suggest that they're prepared to re-elect a Fretilin Government in June.


PETER CAVE: Anne Barker live on the line from Dili.