Alkatiri's Fretilin (Independent Timor-Leste Independent Front), with 30 percent of the vote, will have to form a coalition with Independence hero Gusmao's party, which has won 28 percent. In March, Francisco Guterrez was elected President. The country is undergoing a strong economic crisis with a high unemployment rate. From the maritime border treaty with Australia, hopes for discovery of oil resources.
Dili (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The left-wing party supported by Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri has won the parliamentary elections held in Timor-Leste on Saturday, July 22. The election came after the presidential elections in March won by Francisco Guterrez.
However, Alkatiri's Fretilin (Independent East Timor's Revolutionary Front) did not win the 33 required seats out of 65 for parliamentary control under Timor-Leste's proportional system. Twenty-one candidate lists were presented at this election. With 88 percent of scrutinized votes, Fretilin obtained 30 percent.
In a statement, Alkatiri already paved the way for the formation of a coalition government for the next five years. In particular, he addressed Xanana Gusmao, hero of the country's independence, whose party, the National Congress for Timor Reconstruction (Cnrt), ranked second with 28 percent of the vote.
"We will do everything we can to broaden the governing coalition, but we will continue to work with Xanana Gusmao, an indispensable figure for this country, to respond to the clear message of our people," Alkatiri said.
The youngest democracy in Asia, which declared independence from Indonesia 15 years ago, finds itself in a particularly difficult economic situation with a high unemployment rate and a series of maritime border treaties with Australia to be subscribed. GReat expectations surround these treaties and the possible exploitation of oil fields as a new economic resource.
Out of a population of 1.2 million, 96% are Catholic in East Timor.