| East Timor |
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Politics of East Timor takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of East Timor is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Parliament. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The East Timorese constitution was modelled on that of Portugal. The country is still in the process of building its administration and governmental institutions.
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The Head of state of the East Timorese republic is the president, who is elected by popular vote for a five-year term and whose role is largely symbolic, though he is able to veto some legislation. Following elections, the president appoints as the prime minister, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition. As head of government the prime minister presides over the Council of State or cabinet.
| Office | Name | Party | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| President | José Ramos-Horta | Independent | May 20, 2007 |
| Prime Minister | Xanana Gusmão | CNRT | August 8, 2007 |
The unicameral Timorese National Parliament (Parlamento Nacional) has 65 members elected by proportional representation (d'Hondt method) for a five-year term. The number of seats can vary from a minimum of 52 to a maximum of 65, though it exceptionally had 88 members during its first term which also exceptionally lasted six years – from 2001 to 2007 – this was because the constitution provided that the 88-member Constitutional Assembly would become the first parliament after the constitution entered into force in 2002.
The East Timorese constitution was modelled on that of Portugal. The country is still in the process of building its administration and governmental institutions.
| Candidates – Parties | 1st round | 2nd round | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | ||
| José Ramos-Horta | Independent | 88,102 | 21.81 | 285,835 | 69.18 |
| Francisco Guterres | Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (FRETILIN) | 112,666 | 27.89 | 127,342 | 30.82 |
| Fernando de Araújo | Democratic Party (PD) | 77,459 | 19.18 | ||
| Francisco Xavier do Amaral | Timorese Social Democratic Association (ASDT) | 58,125 | 14.39 | ||
| Lúcia Lobato | Social Democratic Party (PSD) | 35,789 | 8.86 | ||
| Manuel Tilman | Association of Timorese Heroes (KOTA) | 16,539 | 4.09 | ||
| Avelino Coelho da Silva | Socialist Party of Timor (PST) | 8,338 | 2.06 | ||
| João Viegas Carrascalão | Timorese Democratic Union (UDT) | 6,928 | 1.72 | ||
| Total votes | 403,941 | 100.00 | 413,177 | 100.00 | |
| Source: East Timor Election Commission website | |||||
| Parties | Votes | % | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (Frente Revolucionária do Timor-Leste Independente) | 120,592 | 29.02 | 21 |
| National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (Congresso Nacional da Reconstrução Timorense) | 100,175 | 24.10 | 18 |
PSD–ASDT
|
65,358 | 15.73 | 11 |
| Democratic Party (Partido Democrático) | 46,946 | 11.30 | 8 |
| National Unity Party (Partido Unidade Nacional) | 18,896 | 4.55 | 3 |
Democratic Alliance (Aliança Democratica)
|
13,294 | 3.20 | 2 |
| National Unity of Timorese Resistance (União Nacional Democrática de Resistência Timorense) | 13,247 | 3.19 | 2 |
| Timorese Nationalist Party (Partido Nasionalista Timorense) | 10,057 | 2.42 | 0 |
| Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste Party (Partido Democratika Republica de Timor) | 7,718 | 1.86 | 0 |
| Republican Party (Partidu Republikanu) | 4,408 | 1.06 | 0 |
| Christian Democratic Party (Partido Democrata Cristão) | 4,300 | 1.03 | 0 |
| Socialist Party of Timor (Partido Socialista de Timor) | 3,982 | 0.96 | 0 |
| Timorese Democratic Union (União Democrática Timorense) | 3,753 | 0.90 | 0 |
| Millennium Democratic Party (Partido Milénio Democrático) | 2,878 | 0.69 | 0 |
| Total (turnout 80.5%) | 415,604 | 100.00 | 65 |
| Source: CNE | |||
The Supreme Court of Justice has one judge appointed by the National Parliament and the rest appointed by the Superior Council for the Judiciary.
East Timor is divided into thirteen administrative districts:
The districts are subdivided into 65 subdistricts, 443 sucos and 2,336 towns, villages and hamlets. [1]PDF (213 KiB)