http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/51EE11CD-FB69-44E6-BF4E-2B538A9C9118.htm
UPDATED ON:
WEDNESDAY, MAY 09, 2007
11:56 MECCA TIME, 8:56 GMT
East Timor votes for next president
Results from the second round vote are
expected by the end of the week [AFP]
Counting has begun East Timor after a second round run-off
election to chose the tiny country's second president since achieving
independence from Indonesia in 2002.
The election pits the current prime minister, Jose
Ramos-Horta, against the head of the country's parliament, Francisco "Lu-Olo"
Guterres.
Observers said Wednesday's voting appeared to proceed
smoothly, although there are still fears of a possible backlash from supporters
of the losing candidate once the result becomes clear, possibly later this week.
Tight security was in place at polling stations across the
country.
The first-round vote on April 9 brought complaints of
widespread irregularities, stoking concerns of instability in the poor nation
still struggling to heal divisions after its bloody separation from Indonesian
rule.
Counting from this second round will initially be conducted
at local polling stations before the results are then collated by the National
Election Commission in the capital, Dili.
Candidate profiles
JOSE RAMOS-HORTA
Share of 1st round vote: 22%
The 57-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner became prime
minister when the government fell last year amid widespread violence. Was
country's first foreign minister. Close to outgoing President Xanana Gusmao.
Has pledged to continue East Timor's co-operation with the UN.
FRANCISCO 'LU-OLO' GUTERRES
Share of 1st round vote: 28%
The president of Fretilin, a left-leaning political
party formed out of armed resistance to Indonesian rule. Now aged 52, he spent
the years under Indonesian occupation fighting in East Timor's hills and
jungles. One of eight children, he has sought to portray himself as a man of
the people.
Ramos-Horta and Guterres won the most votes out of eight
candidates in the first round, but neither won a clear majority, forcing a
run-off.
The vote is seen as critical to maintaining peace a year
after the troubled nation was pushed to the brink of civil war.
Ramos-Horta, 57, a Nobel peace prize winner who spearheaded
an overseas campaign for East Timor's independence, appears to have the edge
after five of the first-round losers urged their supporters to vote for him.
Guterres, however, is seen as a strong challenger.
He is backed up by Fretilin, the well-organised political
party of the nation's former armed resistance to Indonesian rule.
He has fought a hard campaign, portraying himself as a man of
the people in contrast to Ramos-Horta's image as a foreign-educated
intellectual.
'Relaxed'
Turning out to cast his cote on Wednesday morning,
Ramos-Horta said he was "totally relaxed" and ready to accept the decision of
voters.
"If I win the election, I win a ... huge responsibility," he
said. "But if I lose, I win my freedom to do whatever I want, to be a writer,
to be an academic, to be a tourist, to travel."
He said he would honour the results even if they were not 100
per cent clean.
Tight security was in place at polling
stations amid fears of violence [AFP]
Guterres also pledged to accept the results of the election.
"I will become the Timorese president to serve the people,
resolve the crisis and establish peace and democracy," he said after voting.
"I want to win with dignity, but if I lose, I will also
accept that with dignity."
More than 522,000 people were registered to vote to replace
Xanana Gusmao, the former resistance leader who became East Timor's first
president.
On Tuesday Gusmao, who will run for the post of prime
minister in parliamentary elections scheduled for June, called on voters to
focus on the national interest.
The post of prime minister carries more power than the
presidency, which is a largely ceremonial role.
Bloodshed
Last May the country descended into bloodshed after Mari
Alkatiri, the then-prime minister, sacked 600 mutinous troops from the west of
the country.
At least 37 people were killed and some 155,000 fled their
homes before the government collapsed.
Foreign troops had to be brought in to restore order but
30,000 people remain in camps across Dili, too afraid to go home.
East Timor is one of the poorest nations in Asia, with
average per capita income of less than $1 a day, unemployment estimated at 50
per cent and about 60 per cent of its children suffering from malnutrition
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