2007 East Timorese presidential election

none October 2015 June 2026 2007 East Timorese presidential election East Timor presidential no 2002 East Timorese presidential election 2002 2012 East Timorese presidential election 2012 9 April 2007 (first round)9 May 2007 (second round) 150x150px José Ramos-Horta Independent politician 285,835 69.18% 150x150px Francisco Guterres Fretilin 127,342 30.82% President Xanana Gusmão National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction José Ramos-Horta Independent politician 275px First round results by district 275px Second round results by district 2 Presidential elections were held in East Timor in 2007. The first round on 9 April 2007 saw six of the eight candidates eliminated.AAP Two set to square off for presidency 18 April 2007 Herald Sun http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21580647-5005961,00.html https://web.archive.org/web/20080215162259/http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21580647-5005961,00.html dead 15 February 2008 The remaining two candidates, incumbent Prime Minister José Ramos-Horta and FRETILIN President Francisco Guterres, faced each other in a runoff election on 9 May 2007."East Timor set for presidential run-off", Sydney Morning Herald, 6 May 2007 Ramos-Horta won the second round with 69% of the vote."Guterres congratulates Horta as new president of Timor-Leste", Xinhua (People's Daily Online), 11 May 2007. Candidates Prime Minister José Ramos-Horta announced in February 2007 that he would be a presidential candidate, receiving the support of incumbent president Xanana Gusmão, who chose not to run for another term."Nobel laureate Jose Ramos-Horta to run for president in East Timor", Associated Press (International Herald Tribune), 24 February 2007. Ramos-Horta's main opponent among the seven other candidates was parliamentary speaker Francisco Guterres, though also running were Francisco Xavier do Amaral (also a candidate in the 2002 election), Avelino Coelho da Silva of the Socialist Party, Fernando de Araújo of the Democratic Party, Lúcia Lobato of the Social Democratic Party (the sole female candidate), João Viegas Carrascalão of the Timorese Democratic Union, and Manuel Tilman of the Association of Timorese Heroes."Timorese prepare to elect new president", Australian Associated Press (The Sydney Morning Herald), 10 March 2007. Campaign thumb|José Ramos-Horta at election campaign with traditional clothing thumb|Election campaign with Francisco Guterres and Marí Alkatiri Campaigning began on 23 March, the day after two people were killed in gun battles with police in the capital Dili, though Ramos-Horta did not mention this in his opening campaign speech, instead focusing on poverty."East Timor election campaign starts against backdrop of violence", Associated Press (International Herald Tribune), 23 March 2007 Following the announcement of the first round results, on 26 April Araújo announced his party's support for Ramos-Horta in the second round;"Ramos Horta wins key support", AFP (The Age), 27 April 2007. Ramos-Horta also received the support of four out of the five other candidates: Amaral, Lobato, Coelho da Silva, and Carrascalão. Manuel Tilman endorsed Guterres.Abdul Khalik, "Support for Ramos-Horta no guarantee of a win, say observers", The Jakarta Post, 9 May 2007. Between the first and second rounds, Guterres alleged that Australian soldiers in East Timor as part of Operation Astute were interfering with the election process and Fretilin campaign rallies. The Fretilin party executive José Teixeira said: The ISF (International Stabilisation Force) should not be frightening and intimidating an entirely peaceful election gathering... We are not convinced that there is no connection between the troops' behaviour and the Australian Government's apparent support for José Ramos-Horta."Aust peacekeepers 'intimidating' E Timor voters", ABC News Online, 6 May 2007. 20px 20px Both Ramos-Horta and the United Nations rejected the Fretilin's claims. On 8 May, the day before the second round, Ramos-Horta rebutted, saying: Why are they so afraid, so upset that the international security forces go to the east? Because they wanted to operate, put pressure, threaten people with absolute impunity, without a neutral force standing by. That's why they're so upset."Ramos Horta denies Aust interference", ABC News Online, 8 May 2007. 20px 20px Prior to polling day, both candidates agreed they would accept the result no matter the outcome,"Timor-Leste presidential runoff set", United Press International, 8 May 2007. with outgoing President Xanana Gusmão also urging all sides to vote peacefully and accept the result.Gusmao urges peaceful outcome of poll 9 May 2007 The Australian http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21700437-601,00.htmlMarch 2025 medicmedic Conduct The logistics of providing the entire East Timorese population with access to voting stations proved difficult through both elections. Across the country there were 700 polling stations. Some locations were so isolated that helicopters and donkeys were needed to distribute ballot papers to them."Confusion hits voter turnout in E Timor"August 2019 InternetArchiveBot yes , ABC News Online, 9 May 2007. Amid tight security from the Australian forces present, the election was peaceful and orderly, with no violence related to the election reported."E Timor holds peaceful landmark vote", Independent Online, 9 May 2007. However within a day of votes being counted, irregularities began to appear. These include 87 marked voting papers found at a booth before polls opened as well as children under 17 with their own registration cards attempting to vote."East Timor electoral count continues", Radio Australia, 10 May 2007 Results thumb|Candidates' majority in districts Early results of the first round were announced by a spokesman for the national elections commission, Martinho Gusmão, who said that results from the capital Dili showed Ramos-Horta with about 30%, Araújo with about 25%, and Amaral and Guterres with about 20% each.Deutsch Anthony Nobel laureate could be president 10 April 2007 Associated Press (AdelaideNow) http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,21532911-912,00.html https://web.archive.org/web/20110813111256/http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/world/nobel-laureate-could-be-president/story-e6frea8l-1111113316314 dead 13 August 2011 On 11 April, the president of the commission said that Guterres was in first place with 28.8% and would participate in a second round to be held in May, while Ramos-Horta had 22.5% and Araújo had 18.6%.Fitzpatrick Stephen East Timor poll candidates threaten court action 11 April 2007 The Australian http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21539664-2703,00.html dead https://archive.today/20121215200658/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21539664-2703,00.html 15 December 2012 Five of the candidates — Araújo, Amaral, Lobato, Coelho, and Tilman — demanded that vote counting cease, alleging major problems in the election, and said that counting should only be conducted with all the candidates present to observe;"Stop counting the votes, demand candidates", AFP (IOL), 11 April 2007. they said that they would legally challenge the outcome. Soon afterward, Ramos-Horta joined the calls for a recount, and also called for a UN investigation regarding the absence of votes from 150,000 citizens."UN urged to investigate Timor vote", AAP (The Age), 12 April 2007. Commission spokesman Martinho Gusmão subsequently said on 12 April that there would not be a recount,Ahmad Pathoni, "East Timor poll body rejects call for recount", Reuters (IOL), 13 April 2007. but on 13 April he said that there were inconsistencies in the vote count and that it was possible that a re-vote might be necessary in some parts of the country.East Timor election 'seriously flawed' 13 April 2007 The Australian http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21553719-1702,00.htmlMarch 2025 medicmedic According to final results released by the electoral commission on 18 April, Guterres had 27.89% of the vote (112,666 votes) and Ramos-Horta had 21.81% (88,102 votes), which meant that the two would face each other in a second round. Araújo followed in third place with 19.18% (77,459 votes). Voter turn-out was placed at 81.79%. Following the release of the results, candidates had 24 hours to appeal,Two set to square off for presidency 18 April 2007 Herald Sun http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21580647-5005961,00.html https://web.archive.org/web/20080215162259/http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21580647-5005961,00.html dead 15 February 2008 and three of the losing candidates, Araújo, Amaral, and Lobato did so,Anne Barker, "Unsuccessful candidates appeal against E Timor election results" https://web.archive.org/web/20070529180533/http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200704/s1902560.htm 29 May 2007 , abc.net.au, 20 April 2007. but the results were confirmed by an appeals court."Court confirms East Timor election results" https://web.archive.org/web/20070930201019/http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=144992&version=1&template_id=45&parent_id=25 30 September 2007 , AFP (Gulf Times), 22 April 2007. Following the second round, initial reports predicted a large majority for Ramos-Horta. Ramos-Horta said that he thought that he "could have 70-80%" of the vote, and a spokesman for the election commission said that he was in the lead in most districts."Ramos-Horta ahead in E Timor poll", BBC News, 10 May 2007. With 90% of votes counted, Ramos-Horta had 73%. However, he declined to declare victory until the results were verified and final."Ramos-Horta sweeps to victory in Timor poll", Sydney Morning Herald, 11 May 2007. Subsequently, on 11 May, provisional results showed Ramos-Horta with 69% of the vote against 31% for Guterres, and Guterres accepted defeat and congratulated Ramos-Horta. Voter turnout in the second round was placed at 81%.National Election Commission (CNE) final results https://web.archive.org/web/20070621053623/http://www.cne.tl/Results/ACTA%20FINAL%20APURAMENTU%20NACIONAL%20(VERIFIKASAUN).pdf 21 June 2007 , 14 May 2007. Ramos-Horta took office on 20 May."Horta sworn in as Timor-Leste's new president", Xinhua (People's Daily Online), 21 May 2007. Francisco Guterres Fretilin 112666 127342 José Ramos-Horta Independent 88102 285835 Fernando de Araújo Democratic Party 77459 Francisco Xavier do Amaral Timorese Social Democratic Association 58125 Lúcia Lobato Social Democratic Party 35789 Manuel Tilman Association of Timorese Heroes 16534 Avelino Coelho da Silva Socialist Party of Timor 8338 João Viegas Carrascalão Timorese Democratic Union 6928 23257 11298 522933 524073 ANFREL, IFES First round results by district DistrictGuterresRamos-Hortade Araújodo AmaralLobatoTilmanCoelho da SilvaCarrascalãoAileu8731,5921,49211,7678171,089288217 Ainaro2,4539014,6236,1031,6035,555377714Baucau30,95613,2651,1058651,226604823300Bobonaro4,8035,56213,9302,3256,6781,250635815Cova Lima6,2401,8677,6813,1923,242676218384Dili11,80129,6199,90412,6724,6621,7341,322771Ermera7,1873,84318,5165,9461,7691,7126571,057Lautém12,3926,0063,2487432,884345519323Liquiçá1,9797,4463,1684,0893,8551,001571791Manatuto2,6736,0152,1332,686485539702681Manufahi4,9531,7453,1166,5541,497870281261Oecussi-Ambeno5,6614,7917,6436305,651491254410Viqueque20,6955,4509005531,4206681,691204Total112,66688,10277,45958,12535,78916,5348,3386,928 Second round results by district DistrictRamos-HortaGuterresAileu16,5911,075Ainaro16,3955,121Baucau16,98733,745Bobonaro30,3515,504Cova Lima17,2465,343 Dili63,01015,787Ermera33,9237,198 Lautém12,91913,547Liquiçá20,7052,881 Manatuto13,5713,240Manufahi14,3624,857Oecussi-Ambeno19,3326,879Viqueque10,44322,165Total285,835127,342 Notes Further reading Silva Kelly Cabasset-Semedo Christine Durand Frédéric East-Timor: How to Build a New Nation in Southeast Asia in the 21st Century? 2009 Institut de recherche sur l’Asie du Sud-Est contemporaine Bangkok, Thailand 9786119028203 139–158 https://books.openedition.org/irasec/632 30 November 2020 Suffering, Dignity and Recognition. Sources of political legitimacy in independent East Timor External links tet pt East Timor National Election Commission website East Timor Legal Information Site Category:Presidential elections in Timor-Leste East Timor Presidential election Category:April 2007 in Asia Category:May 2007 in Asia Category:April 2007 elections Category:May 2007 elections