I have forgotten to post this earlier, sorry!:
TimorLeste contested its PresidentialElection some weeks ago.
The election was on the 20th, so less than a week ago. Very disappointing result for Neves, who only got 2.3%, and surprisingly strong for Conceição, who seemingly managed to become the "anybody but Guterres" candidate.
I will repost my intro post from another forum, it has a bit more background:
Timor-Leste (or East Timor) holds presidential elections on 20 March, with a possible run-off on April 20. Its a small former Portuguese colony north of Australia with 1.2 mio. inhabitants, which finally gained independence in 2002 after a quarter of century of brutal Indonesian occupation, costing a third of the population their lives.
So far the country’s politics have been dominated by the rivalry between FRETILIN and the Congresso Nacional da Reconstrução Timorense (CNRT), both of which trace their origins – and enmity – to the independence struggle. FRETILIN has its strongholds in the east of the country, while CNRT is strongest in the west.
Timor-Leste’s economy is almost fully reliant on oil and gas revenue, but the Kitan oil field ended production in 2014, and Bayu Undan (their main gas field) is almost empty. The national petroleum fund (intended to collect revenues for future genertions) could run out within 12 years, and they lack alternative sources of income.
The younger generation has less loyalty to the old heroes of the independence struggle and are mostly interested in education and jobs, at the same time the traditional media have lost out to social media, which could jeopardize the dominance of FRETILIN and CNRT. The voting age has been lowered to 16 and 51% of voters are aged 16-35.
President Taur Matan Ruak has decided not to run for a second term, but will run for PM in July for his new Partidu Libertasaun Popular (PLP).
The biggest name in East Timorese politics Nobel Peace Prize laureate, former President and Prime Minister José Ramos-Horta has refused to run as has #2 CNRT chairman Xanana Gusmão.
Eight candidates have been approved by the electoral commission after collecting 5,000 signatures:
Francisco “Lú-Olo” Guterres, chairman of FRETILIN, endorsed by former Prime Minister and President, CNRT chairman Xanana Gusmão. Thus having the two largest parties in the country behind him. He lost the two previous presidential elections in 2007 and 2012, but it would be a big surprise if he didn't manage to win this time.
António da Conceição, chairman of Partido Democrático (PD), the third largest party.
José Luís Guterres, chairman of the 4th largest party Frenti-Mudança (FM), a 2007 leftist split from FRETILIN, and former Foreign Minister. Nominally running as an Indie.
Antonio Maher “Fatuk Mutin” Lopes, Deputy Secretary General of Partido Socialista de Timor (PST). The far left.
Angela Freitas, party chairman of the small trade union based Partido Trabalhista (PT).
José Samala-Rua Neves, Indie, Deputy Commissioner of Comissão Anti-Corrupção (CAC) until July 2016. Ex-guerilla commander (like most of the political elite).
Amorim Vieira, Indie, not much info on him except the trivia that he was an SNP activist in East Kilbride while in exile in Scotland.
Luís Alves Tilman, who seems to be a random nobody.
There has been a growing cooperation between FRETILIN and the CNRT resulting in an informal power-sharing agreement. This meant that the country was without an effective opposition to the CNRT majority government. President Taur Matan Ruak (a former guerilla commander who got elected as an independent) decided to fill the void and cast himself as the government’s chief antagonist. He founded a new party (PLP) last year together with former corruption commissioner Adérito Soares. The PLP is expected to at least overtake the DP, which has been has been tanking since its leader Fernando de Araújo died in 2015. Its running on a strong critique of the current focus on large and costly mega projects, centralisation and clientilism/corruption and fiscal irresponsibility and thus a viable option for protest votes. Their critique also includes the elite’s focused on joining ASEAN (vanity project) and ignoring poverty, malnutrition, education, healthcare, water, sanitation (489,000 people lived below the poverty line in 2014). No third party has ever gotten more than 20%, but PLP hope to break that threshold and put pressure on the Big2 and the candidature of José Samala-Rua Neves, who is the former deputy of Adérito Soares, will test the strength of the “independent” vote.
