East Timor goes to the polls to choose its president

East Timorese voters voted on Saturday to elect their president for the next five years in the most competitive election in the history of this young Southeast Asian country.

There are 16 candidates in the running, including four women, which is the largest number of candidates in the electoral history of this country, a Portuguese colony until 1975 and then bloody occupied by Indonesia until its independence in 2002.

The current president, Francisco Guterres, 67 years old and heads the Fretilin party, is a candidate for re-election.

“If elected, I will continue to defend our country's democratic rights and promote sustainable development,” he said.

Its main rival is Nobel Peace Prize winner José Ramos-Horta, 72, who was president between 2007 and 2012 and is supported by the National Congress for Reconstruction of Timor (CNRT).

“The most important thing for me is to strengthen stability and build a better economy,” said the former spokesman for the Timorese resistance to his electoral college.

If no candidate obtains an absolute majority, a second round will be held on April 18. The inauguration of the new head of state is scheduled for 20 May, the anniversary of the country's independence.

Almost 860,000 people are called to the polls in this country of 1.3 million inhabitants, spread over 1,500 polling stations provided with anti-covid measures.

Among them was the 22-year-old student Sidalia dos Santos, who wants prosperity after years of political paralysis that held back the economy.

“I hope that the candidate I voted for can improve our lives, especially in healthcare and education,” he said.

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