Timor-Leste’s Ramos Horta and ‘Lu Olo’ Guterres face off in presidential election

Asia’s youngest nation of Timor-Leste will hold the second and final round of its presidential election on Tuesday, with Nobel laureate Jose Ramos-Horta the clear frontrunner in the poll. Ramos-Horta, who received 46.5% of votes in the first round last month, is up against incumbent president “Lu Olo” Guterres, who got 22.1%, in a ballot widely seen as key to the nation’s political stability.

Political fractures have underscored this election, with Ramos-Horta, 72, signalling that he may use presidential powers to dissolve parliament and call for early parliamentary elections if he wins. Xanana Gusamo, Timor-Leste first president and head of the National Congress of the Reconstruction of Timor Leste (CNRT) party, has described the current government as “constitutionally illegitimate”.

The comment relates to 67-year-old president Lu Olo’s refusal to swear in more than half a dozen CNRT ministers after the 2018 elections due to investigations into their conduct, including alleged corruption.

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