austraLasia #1812

Presidential poll run-off in Timor Leste - but what matters most is for people to feel safe!

DILI: 13th April 2007 -- The rest of the world quite possibly has little notion of what is happening in East Timor at the moment.  The news is generally good news if one considers the possibility (and some thought the probability) of further chaos as presidential elections loomed.  That was not quite the case - at least reports indicate that the voters not only behaved themselves but turned out in large numbers to elect one of eight candidates.  Not everyone is sure the counters have been behaving themselves quite as well - there are whispers of some irregularities - but observers believe that all things considered, the first round for the election of a new president has gone better than expected.  And it is a first round - no candidate gained enough percentage of votes to be declared a winner, and within the next month a second round will need to determine which of two candidates - almost certainly 'Lu Olo' (Francisco Guterres) the Fretilin candidate and Ramos Horta, the current prime minister - will contest.
    Salesians at Comoro in Dili are only hoping that whoever wins eventually, will also have a government behind him that can resolve the refugee problem - there are still as many as 7,000 people in the compound, after a year now since riots in the capital left people either homeless or feeling too unsafe to leave the protection of the compound.
    President Xanana Gusmao, who was elected president when Timor Leste became independent, is not running for another term as president - but is generally thought to be lining himself up to run for prime minister later in the year.  The Constitution gives very little real power to the President.
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