Parliamentary elections in East Timor 2018
The early parliamentary elections in East Timor in 2018 (in common parlance in Tetum : eleisaun antesipada EA ) decided on the composition of the fifth national parliament of East Timor ( Parlamento Nacional de Timor-Leste ). They took place on May 12, 2018. 784,286 people were eligible to vote.
Political situation before the elections
In the parliamentary elections in 2017 , no party has an absolute majority reach. After the Kmanek Haburas Unidade Nasional Timor Oan (KHUNTO) jumped out at short notice , Marí Bin Amude Alkatiri formed a minority government from his Frente Revolucionária do Timor-Leste Independente (FRETILIN) and the Partido Democrático (PD) . The opposition parties Congresso Nacional da Reconstrução Timorense (CNRT) , Partidu Libertasaun Popular (PLP) and KHUNTO then formed the Aliança da Maioria Parlamentar (AMP) ( German alliance of parliamentary majority ) in parliament .
After Alkatiri was unable to push through either his budget or the government program against the AMP, the AMP asked President Francisco Guterres (FRETILIN) to give her the task of forming a new government. After talks with representatives of all parties, Guterres instead declared parliament dissolved on January 26, 2018 (Presidential Decree No. 5/2018) and called new elections in accordance with the request of FRETILIN and PD. The omission of the parliamentary majority by President Guterres was rated by commentators and political scientists as an "attack on democracy". He and Alkatiri were accused of "stubbornness" and "arrogance". The prime minister would break the law just to stay in power.
The end of the border disputes between Australia and East Timor occurred in the time between the dissolution of parliament and new elections. Xanana Gusmão , the leader of the CNRT, as chief negotiator for East Timor, had successfully concluded a new contract across the border in the Timor Sea . On March 6, 2018, when he returned to Dili, he received a triumphant welcome from thousands of East Timorese.
organization
On February 7, 2018, President Guterres set the election date for May 12. On April 3, the order of the parties and alliances on the ballot was determined. As in the previous elections in 2017, the East Timorese living abroad were able to vote there. There were polling stations in Lisbon , Porto , Darwin , Sydney , Melbourne , London , Oxford , Dungannon and Seoul .
Each party or alliance list had to contain 65 candidates and 65 replacement candidates. Every third candidate had to be a woman. The seats were allocated in the order on the lists. The seats were allocated to the lists according to the D'Hondt procedure , with the last seat, in the case of several equal maximum numbers, being allocated to the party with the fewest votes.
As with the previous elections, once voters had voted, they were marked on their fingers with purple, non-washable ink to prevent double voting. The 4,000 bottles of ink were purchased through the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) for $ 110,000. There were also transport costs.
Parties and alliances
On January 26th, the AMP and the Fórum Demokrátiku Nasionál (FDN), an alliance ( Portuguese coligação ) made up of several small parties that are not represented in parliament, concluded an agreement to unite the forces of the twelve parties in the upcoming elections. On February 1, 2018, the three parties of the AMP officially decided to work together in the election campaign. For this, the alliance was renamed Aliança para Mudança e Progresso . In a letter of intent, it was agreed to run the election with a common list and to form a coalition after the election. Other forces, such as the FDN, would also be free to join the AMP. FRETILIN and PD also agreed to work together in the election campaign. Alkatiri ruled out a common list. With the Frenti Dezenvolvimentu Demokratieiku (FDD) , the parties Partidu Unidade Dezenvolvimentu Demokratieiku (PUDD) , Frenti-Mudança (FM) , União Democrática Timorense (UDT) and Partido do Desenvolvimento Nacional (PDN) founded another alliance on December 11, 2017 .
In March 2018, the FDN disintegrated. Parts of it formed the Movimento Social Democrata (MSD) , others the Movimentu Dezenvolvimentu Nasional (MDN) . Finally, the Comissão Nacional de Eleições announced that it allows a total of four coalitions to be elected: AMP, MSD, MDN and FDD. If the parties received the same number of votes in the new elections as in 2017, the AMP would receive 33 seats and thus an absolute majority of the seats. The FRETILIN would get 21 seats, the PD six and the FDD, whose members were not previously represented in parliament, a total of five seats. The other alliances would be below the four percent hurdle even with the number of votes added up
In addition to the four party alliances, four parties participated in the election: The two governing parties FRETILIN and PD, which have previously represented in parliament, as well as Partidu Republikanu PR and Partido Esperança da Pátria PEP . The list of candidates taking part in the election had to be confirmed on April 1st by the Tribunal de Recurso de Timor-Leste . Objections to the decision could be raised until April 4th. At the end of March it was reported that the Klibur Oan Timor Asuwain KOTA , which had not started in 2017, and the Associação Social-Democrata de Timor ASDT , which were not admitted at the time, had registered . However, the two parties no longer appeared on the lists published on April 3.
The parties that remained in the FDN, Partido Democrática Republica de Timor PDRT , Partido Milénio Democrático PMD (both formerly part of the Bloku Unidade Popular BUP alliance ) and Partido do Desenvolvimento Popular PDP issued an appeal for the AMP. The Partido Timorense Democrático PTD , which was still running in 2017, did not take part in the 2018 election. The registered parties Partido do Povo de Timor PPT , Partido Unidade Nacional PUN , Partido Republika Nacional Timor Leste PARENTIL , Partido Trabalhista Timorense PTT , Partidu Democrática Liberal PDL and Partido Nasionalista Timorense PNT had already not started in 2017 .
Election campaign
On April 9, the parties and alliances signed a “Pact of National Unity” by committing themselves to peaceful elections. The hot phase of the election campaign officially began on April 10th and ended on May 9th. After that, no election campaign events were allowed to take place. The mood during the election campaign was generally very charged. The importance of social networks such as Facebook compared to traditional media continued to increase compared to previous elections, but this led to problems. Information was spread as well as insults, defamations and threats against politicians and traditional leaders. In the run-up to the official election campaign, the police arrested several people who were accused of insulting politicians. However, the East Timorese criminal law did not provide for any consequences in the event of defamation, which is why those arrested were released. The tone on social networks did not change. It was also criticized that even journalists spread false reports via social networks and thus caused resentment in society.
On May 5, two vehicles carrying 18 CNRT trailers were attacked in Viqueque and several of the travelers were injured. Marí Alkatiri apologized for the attack on behalf of FRETILIN, but the non-governmental organization Fundasaun Mahein criticized the lack of measures to prevent such attacks. In addition, the competition between the parties was dominated by a violent language, so party members were commonly referred to as militants . According to the AMP, there were also attacks on their supporters in Laga . On the other hand, there were some anti-Muslim statements, which were directed against the Arab-born Alkatiri.
It was noticeable that the parties largely used figures from the struggle for independence as figureheads in their campaigns. The AMP particularly pointed out that their leaders Xanana Gusmão and Taur Matan Ruak came from the armed resistance in the country, while the leaders of FRETILIN Alkatiri and José Ramos-Horta spent the Indonesian occupation (1975-1999) abroad on the "diplomatic front" spent. The PD campaigned with its late founder Fernando de Araújo , who led the student independence movement in Indonesia ( RENETIL ), and the MSD with the also deceased Mário Viegas Carrascalão and Francisco Xavier do Amaral .
On May 10, the President of the National Electoral Commission ( Comissão Nacional de Eleições CNE ), Alcino Baris , accused the AMP of spreading unsubstantiated suspicions against the official electoral bodies on social media. Two posts on the AMP's Facebook account warned that Prime Minister Alkatiri was working with the CNE and the Technical Secretariat of the Election Administration ( Secreteriado Técnico de Administração Eleitoral STAE ) to “prepare mechanisms for dealing with early elections”. Additional ballot papers are printed “to make FRETILIN the winner” and an attempt is made to buy votes with “money and rice”. Election officials are also being manipulated. According to Baris, there was no evidence of this. Fidelis Leite Magalhães , Vice-President of the AMP said the warnings had a certain basis and should help prevent abuse and "willful mistakes". The first reports from national and international election observers rated the elections as free, fair and transparent. In addition to Australia and the European Union, election observers included the International Republican Institute , the Ibero-American Group of Electoral Observers GIOE with representatives from Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Portugal and Venezuela, and the Catholic Church alone, 900 people.
Result and consequences
| Official end result | |||||||||
|
|
Position on the ballot | alliance | Political party | Political orientation | Share of votes in 2017 |
Seats in Parliament 2017-2018 | Number of votes in 2018 |
Share of votes in 2018 |
Seats in parliament after the 2018 election |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | - |
Partido Esperança da Pátria PEP  |
? | 1.2% | - | 5,060 | 0.8% | - | |
| 2 | - |
Partido Democrático PD  |
middle right | 9.8% | 7th | 50,370 | 8.1% | 5 | |
| 3 | - |
Partidu Republikanu PR .svg){kind=small} |
Middle, social democratic | 0.7% | - | 4.125 | 0.7% | - | |
| 4th | - |
FRETILIN .svg){kind=small} |
Left | 29.7% | 23 | 213,324 | 34.2% | 23 | |
| 5 | Movimento Social Democrata MSD |
Centro Acção Social Democrata Timorense CASDT  |
conservative | 0.4% | - | ||||
Partido Social Democrata PSD  |
conservative | 0.8% | - | ||||||
Partido Socialista de Timor PST  |
Marxist-Leninist | 0.9% | - | ||||||
Partido Democrata Cristão PDC  |
Christian | 0.3% | - | ||||||
| total | 2.4% | - | 3,188 | 0.5% | - | ||||
| 6th | Movimentu Dezenvolvimentu Nasional MDN |
Associação Popular Monarquia Timorense APMT  |
monarchist | 1.0% | - | ||||
Partidu Liberta Povu Aileba PLPA  |
conservative | Part of the BUP alliance (0.9%) | |||||||
Movimentu Libertasaun ba Povu Maetze MLPM  |
middle left | 0.2% | - | ||||||
União Nacional Democrática de Resistência Timorense UNDERTIM  |
? | 0.2% | - | ||||||
| total | 1.4% (without PLPA) | - | 4,494 | 0.7% | - | ||||
| 7th |
Frenti Dezenvolvimentu Demokratiku FDD
|
Partidu Unidade Dezenvolvimentu Demokratiku PUDD  |
? | 2.8% | - | ||||
União Democrática Timorense UDT  |
conservative | 2.0% | - | ||||||
Frenti-Mudança FM  |
social democratic | 1.6% | - | ||||||
Partido do Desenvolvimento Nacional PDN  |
conservative | 0.7% | - | ||||||
| total | 7.1% | - | 34,301 | 5.5% | 3 | ||||
| 8th | Aliança para Mudança e Progresso AMP |
Congresso Nacional da Reconstrução Timorense CNRT  |
conservative | 29.5% | 22nd | ||||
Partidu Libertasaun Popular PLP  |
anti corruption | 10.6% | 8th | ||||||
Kmanek Haburas Unidade Nasional Timor Oan KHUNTO  |
anti establishment | 6.4% | 5 | ||||||
| total | 46.5% | 35 | 309,663 | 49.6% | 34 | ||||
| Turnout and invalid votes | ||
| be right | % | |
|---|---|---|
| valid votes | 624,525 | 98.33% |
| invalid votes (zero) * | 7,544 | 1.19% |
| blank ballot papers (mamuk, branku) | 2,998 | 0.47% |
| rejected ballots (rejeitados, rezeitadu) | 20th | 0.00% |
| orphaned ballot papers (abandonados) | 29 | 0.00% |
| Total (voter turnout: 80.98%) | 635.116 | 100.00% |
| * Ballot papers for which the choice is not clear are counted with "no", e.g. B. with holes for two parties or outside the box, so that an allocation is not possible. | ||
The polling stations closed at 3 p.m. The turnout was 80.98%, 5% higher than in the previous year. 326,272 of the votes cast were from men and 308,844 from women. According to the preliminary official final result after counting 98% of the votes, the AMP won an absolute majority in parliament with 34 out of 65 seats. She had to give up one seat to the newly drafted FDD, which was able to win two more seats from the PD. The FRETILIN was able to keep its number of seats. The AMP was able to win the majority in the parishes, especially in the west. The second placement of FRETILIN behind AMP in Oe-Cusse Ambeno , for which the local FRETILIN boss Arsénio Bano took personal responsibility and apologized publicly on Facebook, while doubts about the correctness of the result in Oe-Cusse Ambeno were heard from his party were. The FRETILIN had lost almost 11% (more than 3,000 votes) compared to the last elections, while the AMP now got over 58% (+ 19%). In Dili , FRETILIN was able to record great profits and again became the strongest party in its old strongholds of Baucau , Viqueque and Lautém .
The leadership of the PD announced on May 15 that they would accept the election results and would like to pursue constructive opposition. Xanana Gusmão stated in a press conference on the same day that the AMP agreed that the election result would be examined and encountered fraudulent suspicions from the ranks of FRETILIN. With regard to the result in Oe-Cusse Ambeno, Alkatiri expressed the suspicion that there were irregularities here that he wanted to have checked. Gusmão also spoke of "small mistakes", so there would be differences in the number of votes in Dili between the vote count and the published result of the STAE. The CNE published the final, preliminary result on May 17th.
On May 19, Alkatiri announced that FRETILIN was collecting evidence of “criminal electoral offenses” which it would submit to the Tribunal de Recurso, before which the election results were appealed. From Oe-Cusse Ambeno one would already have several pieces of evidence where “cars with strangers” would have been seen. But every decision of the court will be accepted. The allegations included buying votes, using false papers, missing ballots in a polling center and complaints about the counting of votes. On May 22nd, the President of the Tribunal Deolindo dos Santos requested further documents from the CNE. Since these were missing for a judgment, the 72-hour deadline for reaching a judgment had not yet expired. On May 23, the court rejected FRETILIN's complaint as "completely unfounded" and on May 28, as foreseen in the election calendar in the Jornal da República , the final official result was officially announced. The FRETILIN now announced that it wanted to be a strong opposition to the AMP government.
On June 1, the AMP nominated Taur Matan Ruak as its candidate for the office of Prime Minister. The new parliament met for the first time on June 13th. Taur Matan Ruak was sworn in as Prime Minister on June 22nd.
See also
Web links
- Comissão Nacional de Eleições
- Secreteriado Técnico de Administração Eleitoral
- La'o Hamutuk: Early Parliamentary Election: May 12, 2018
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tafara.tl: Partidu 5 Konkorda Ho Prospota Data Eleisaun 12 Maiu, Alcino: PR is decree Loroan EA , February 6, 2018 , accessed on February 6, 2018.
- ↑ STAE: Evolução do número de eleitores recenseados desde o referendo de 30 de Agosto de 1999 à Eleição Parlamentar de 12 de Maio de 2018 , accessed on April 17, 2018.
- ^ Rui Graça Feijó: Timor-Leste: is Díli on (Political) Fire Again? , Presidental Power, December 11, 2017 , accessed December 11, 2017.
- ^ President of East Timor: MESSAGE OF HE THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC , January 26, 2018 , accessed on January 26, 2018.
- ↑ UCA news: Democracy under attack in Timor-Leste , January 26, 2018 , accessed on January 26, 2018.
- ^ Western Advocate: Hero's welcome for Timor border negotiator , March 12, 2018 , accessed March 18, 2018.
- ↑ a b c d La'o Hamutuk: Early Parliamentary Election: 12 May 2018
- ↑ a b c SAPO: Quatro coligações vão concorrer às eleições antecipadas de 12 de maio , March 13, 2018 , accessed on March 14, 2018.
- ↑ La'o Hamutuk: List of polling stations , accessed May 14, 2018.
- ^ Government of East Timor: Preparations for Parliamentary Elections On Track as Campaign Period Begins , June 21, 2017 , accessed June 21, 2017.
- ↑ IFES Election guide Timor-Leste , accessed July 7, 2012
- ↑ Election Act 06/2006 ( Memento of March 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 812 kB) and changes in 06/2007 ( Memento of March 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (Portuguese; PDF; 173 kB), accessed on July 7, 2012
- ↑ Michael Leach, The Interpreter: Timor-Leste elections suggest reframed cross-party government , July 24, 2017 , accessed July 27, 2017.
- ↑ RTP: Timor compra através do PNUD tinta indelével para eleições antecipadas , February 15, 2018 , accessed on February 17, 2018.
- ^ The Timor News: AMP Avansa Pakote Uniku Hasoru Eleisaun Antesipada , February 1, 2018 , accessed on February 2, 2018.
- ↑ SAPO: Oposição timorense anuncia coligação pré-eleitoral para voto antecipado, February 2, 2018 , accessed on February 2, 2018.
- ↑ Observador: Fretilin e PD, no Governo em Timor-Leste, podem fazer acordo pré-eleitoral , February 6, 2018 , accessed on February 6, 2018.
- ↑ Diário de Notícias: Timor-Leste / Eleições: Seis partidos e quatro coligações no voto antecipado de 12 de maio , March 22, 2018 , accessed on March 23, 2018.
- ↑ STAE's presence on Facebook: Lista definitiva de candidatos à eleição parlamentar 2018 , April 3, 2018 , accessed on April 3, 2018.
- ^ Image from an election campaign event in Same, April 18, 2018 , accessed on April 18, 2018.
- ↑ Observador: Polícia timorense detém várias pessoas por insultos no Facebook a líderes nacionais , March 22, 2018 , accessed on March 22, 2018.
- ↑ Fundasaun Mahein: Fundasaun Mahein Condemns use of violence preceding May 12 Election , May 8, 2018 , accessed on May 9, 2018.
- ↑ Fundasaun Mahein: Fundasaun Mahein Condemns use of violence preceding May 12 Election , May 8, 2018 , accessed on May 9, 2018.
- ↑ a b Michael Leach: Heated campaign draws to a close in Timor-Leste , In: Inside Story, May 11, 2018 , accessed on May 11, 2018.
- ↑ Jornal Tornado: Coligações e partidos timorenses preparam-se para disputar eleições , April 9, 2018 , accessed on April 10, 2018.
- ^ STAE: International Election Observers . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ STAE: National Election Observers .
- ↑ SIC Notícias: Órgãos eleitorais de Timor-Leste acusam oposição de publicações falsas em época de eleições , May 10, 2018 , accessed on May 11, 2018.
- ↑ Michael Sainsbury: Xanana Gusmao alliance ousts Fretilin in Timor poll , The Age, May 13, 2018 , accessed May 14, 2018.
- ↑ International Republican Institute: IRI Statement on Timor-Leste's Parliamentary Elections , May 14, 2018 , accessed May 16, 2018.
- ^ Press release from the Mexican consulate in East Timor.
- ↑ UCAnews: Church at center of controversy in Timor-Leste election , accessed May 14, 2018.
- ↑ CNE: Preliminary final result of July 27, 2017 .
- ↑ Diário de Notícias: Timor-Leste / Eleições: Tribunal de Recurso valida resultados, vitória da Fretilin , August 1, 2017 , accessed on August 1, 2017.
- ↑ a b c d e CNE: Apuramento Eleisaun Parliamentary 2018 , May 17, 2018 , accessed on May 17, 2018.
- ^ Oki Raimundos: East Timorese vote in second election in less than a year , Washington Post, May 12, 2018 , accessed May 14, 2018.
- ^ STAE: voter turnout , accessed on May 15, 2018.
- ↑ a b Michael Leach: In Timor-Leste, a vote for certainty , In: Inside Story, May 14, 2018 , accessed on May 14, 2018.
- ↑ STAE: Provisional result Oe-Cusse Ambeno and international polling stations , May 15, 2018 , accessed on May 15, 2018.
- ↑ CNE: Votos ba partido iha munisipio keta-ketak , accessed on May 17, 2018.
- ↑ GMN TV: Akon kadeira 2 iha EA, PD deside ba opozisaun iha PN , May 15, 2018 , accessed on May 15, 2018.
- ↑ SAPO: Xanana Gusmão agradece maturidade do povo , May 15, 2018 , accessed on May 16, 2018.
- ↑ Independente: FRETLIN Taka Odamatan Ba Aliadu , May 15, 2018 , accessed on May 16, 2018.
- ↑ LUSA: Fretilin recolheu provas de "crimes eleitorais", afirma Mari Alkatiri , accessed on May 20, 2018.
- ↑ a b LUSA: Tribunal de Recurso considera improcedente recurso da Fretilin , May 23, 2018 , accessed on May 23, 2018.
- ↑ a b Diário de Notícias: Timor-Leste / Eleições: Tribunal de Recurso pede mais dados à CNE para avaliar recurso - presidente , May 22, 2018 , accessed on May 22, 2018.
- ↑ Tatoli: TR Proklama Rezultadu EAP-AMP Primeiru Vensedor , May 28, 2018 , accessed on May 28, 2018.
- ↑ The Timor News: FRETILIN sei sai Opozisaun Forte Hodi Kontrola Governu AMP , May 24, 2018 , accessed on May 30, 2018.
- ↑ e-global.pt: Timor-Leste: Taur Matan Ruak nomeado primeiro ministro timorense , June 1, 2018 , accessed on June 5, 2018.
- ↑ Timor Agora: Taur Matan Ruak indigitado pela coligação AMP como novo PM timorense - fontes partidárias , June 18, 2018 , accessed on June 19, 2018.
