East Timor presidential elections in 2002
In the first presidential elections in East Timor after the withdrawal of Indonesia on April 14, 2002, Xanana Gusmão prevailed against Francisco Xavier do Amaral , who ran for the Associação Social-Democrata de Timor ( ASDT ), with 82.7% of the vote. 13,768 votes (3.64%) were invalid. The turnout was 82.8%. Gusmão, the former head of FRETILIN and the Conselho Nacional de Resistência Timorense (CNRT), was revered as a popular hero. After the statehood of East Timor had been achieved as a major goal, Gusmão actually wanted to withdraw from active politics, but then faced the many requests to continue to assume a responsible position.
Amaral, who was the first president of East Timor before the country was occupied by Indonesia , had already declared before the election that he did not expect to win against Gusmão. But he saw it as important to show the strength of East Timorese democracy by having Gusmão have an opponent.
In addition to his ASDT, Amaral was supported by the Partido Republika Nacional Timor Leste (PARENTIL). Gusmão was able to unite nine parties behind him: PSD , PD , UDT , KOTA , PNT , PST , UDC / PDC , PTT and PDM . The open support of Gusmão by the armed forces (F-FDTL) was controversial . FRETILIN, which held an absolute majority in the national parliament of East Timor , officially supported neither of the two candidates. When Gusmão announced during the election campaign that in the event of an election he would keep an eye on the rulers and form an opposing pole, FRETILIN boss Mari Alkatiri recommended his supporters to vote for Amaral or to hand in blank ballot papers. FRETILIN members who appeared at Gusmão election campaign events were disciplined in the party.
Gusmão remained President of East Timor until the end of his term in 2007.
| Presidential election in East Timor on April 14, 2002 | ||
| Candidate (party) | be right | % |
|---|---|---|
| Xanana Gusmão ( independent ) | 301,634 | 82.69 |
| Francisco Xavier do Amaral ( ASDT ) | 63,146 | 17.31 |
| Total (participation: 86%) | 364.780 | 100.00 |
Individual evidence
- ↑ Psephos Adam Carr's Election Archive
- ↑ Timor-Leste, Eleições Gerais de 2012 , accessed on September 2, 2012
- ↑ Lydia M. Beuman: Political Institutions in East Timor: semi-presidentialism and Democratization (2016).
