http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/ramos-horta-triumphs-in-east-timor-polls/2007/05/10/1178390468400.html
Ramos Horta triumphs in East Timor elections East Timorese president-to-be Jose Ramos Horta talks to the media after the elections yesterday. Photo: Glenn Campbell Lindsay Murdoch, Dili May 11, 2007 NOBEL laureate Jose Ramos Horta has secured a stunning victory in a run-off presidential election, official vote-counting shows. Poll commission spokeswoman Maria Sarmento said Mr Ramos Horta had won about 73 per cent of votes with almost 90 per cent counted. As counting of Wednesday's voting dragged on yesterday, Mr Ramos Horta told journalists he planned to move quickly to heal deep divisions in the country and would find a way to placate disgruntled soldiers whose sacking last year plunged the country into violent upheaval. But he declined to declare victory against the ruling Fretilin party's Francisco "Lu-Olo" Guterres until the final official results are announced next week. "I am very confident of victory but out of respect for the country's culture we will await the official results," Mr Ramos Horta's spokesman said. Komeg, a coalition of non-government organisations monitoring official counting, said Mr Ramos Horta won 232,590 votes nationwide with the ruling Fretilin party's Mr Guterres getting 97,330. The result is devastating for Fretilin, which has ruled East Timor since the country of 1 million people gained independence five years ago. The party led by deposed prime minister Mari Alkatiri will now be forced to rethink its campaign strategies before parliamentary elections on June 30. Mr Guterres, a former freedom fighter, polled poorly even though Fretilin has the largest political machine and the biggest networks in rural villages. Mr Ramos Horta won the second highest number of votes in the first round of voting last month even though he does not have his own political party. He emerged as frontrunner to win the presidency when five non-Fretilin candidates who lost in the first round urged supporters to vote for him on Wednesday. Xanana Gusmao, another former freedom fighter, who steps down as president on May 20, has formed a party to contest the election against Fretilin, which he blames for violence last year that left scores dead and forced 150,000 people from their homes. The strength of the vote for Mr Ramos Horta, a close ally and friend of Mr Gusmao, indicates Fretilin will struggle to hold power unless it can significantly lift its support at the parliamentary election. Mr Ramos Horta, co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996, won 29,526 votes in Dili with Mr Guterres getting only 5965, according to Komeg. He also triumphed in western districts such as Liquica where he won 20,554 votes, Komeg said, compared to Mr Guterres' 2862. Even in Baucau, the country's second largest city, which has been a Fretilin stronghold, Mr Ramos Horta won 10,896 votes with Mr Guterres getting 15,908. Mr Ramos Horta is likely to push for the United Nations to organise the parliamentary elections after poll monitors complained about the conduct of the presidential rounds of voting. Atul Khare, head of the UN mission in East Timor, described Wednesday's poll, which was free of violence, as a "very good result" and urged both candidates and their supporters to accept the result. Almost 3000 UN police and 1000 Australian and New Zealand troops stayed on their highest alert level last night amid fears angry Fretilin supporters may seek violent revenge when they learned Mr Guterres had lost. The fears grew when three Dili district court judges dismissed an appeal by former interior minister Rogerio Lobato against a 7½-year jail sentence he received last year. As Fretilin's leaders held crisis talks on the poll result they learned Lobato was on his way to jail to begin the sentence. He had been found guilty of charges including attempted murder that related to last year's violence. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
