East Timor presidential elections 2007
In the presidential elections in East Timor in 2007 , a successor to President Xanana Gusmão was determined, who did not stand for election after one term. Gusmão officially resigned on May 20, 2007, the country's fifth independence day. He stood for the parliamentary elections on June 30, 2007 as a candidate for the office of Prime Minister . In the first round of the presidential election on April 9, 2007, no candidate received an absolute majority. Therefore, on May 9, 2007, there was a runoff between the two candidates with the highest number of votes - Francisco Lu-Olo Guterres and José Ramos-Horta . In the first round, 522,933 residents were eligible to vote, in the second 524,073. They were able to cast their votes in 705 polling stations. The winner of the election was José Ramos-Horta with 69.18%. He was inducted into his new office on May 20, 2007.
The candidates
Eight candidates were allowed to vote.
The previous Prime Minister and Nobel Peace Prize laureate José Ramos-Horta was the most promising candidate . Just the previous year he had taken over the office of Prime Minister from Mari Alkatiri from FRETILIN , under which Ramos-Horta had been Foreign Minister. Alkatiri had to resign due to the unrest in East Timor in 2006 under pressure from Xanana Gusmão. Gusmão then prevailed against the ruling party FRETILIN with his candidate and friend Ramos-Horta as successor Alkatiris. Since Gusmão had announced early on that he would only be president for one term, Ramos-Horta decided to run, while Gusmão is now running for the office of prime minister. The aim of both is to break the dominance of FRETILIN. On this, they agree with many opposition parties . FRETILIN and its leading politicians, who had put up most of the resistance during the Indonesian occupation from 1975 to 1999, were accused of failing to solve the country's problems, nepotism and corruption in previous years. José Ramos-Horta and especially Xanana Gusmão, on the other hand, enjoy a great reputation in the country. The non-party Ramos-Horta was supported in the election campaign by Gusmão's new party CNRT , the PMD , UNDERTIM and the Maupe youth organization .
The President of the Parliament, Francisco Lu-Olo Guterres, ran for the ruling party FRETILIN . In contrast to Ramos-Horta, Alkatiri and many other politicians, the chairman of FRETILIN took part in the armed struggle against the Indonesians during the occupation. His party won 55 of the 88 seats in the last general election in 2001 .
Fernando La Sama de Araújo is the leader of the PD Democratic Party , the largest opposition party, which won 8.72% of the vote in the 2001 parliamentary elections. In 1988 La Sama founded the Resistência Nacional dos Estudantes de Timor-Leste RENETIL ( National Resistance of the Students of Timor-Leste ). He was imprisoned in Indonesia with Xanana Gusmão for six years, until they were freed with the fall of the dictator Suharto . Especially young people who have studied abroad support La Samas PD.
Francisco Xavier do Amaral , chairman of the conservative ASDT , was sworn in as the first President of East Timor by FRETILIN in 1975 after East Timor had declared independence from Portugal, but had to flee to the mountains a few days later after the Indonesian invasion. Later he was deposed by the FRETILIN and was taken prisoner by the Indonesians. In 2002, Amaral ran in the first presidential election against Xanana Gusmão, but lost significantly (17.3% of the vote). During the election campaign, Amaral had declared that he expected a defeat against Gusmão. From his point of view, Gusmão should have an opposing candidate, which demonstrates the strength of East Timorese democracy.
João Carrascalão is the chairman of the UDT , the oldest party in East Timor, which was defeated in the armed power struggle against FRETILIN in 1975. During the Indonesian occupation, Carrascalão lived in exile and worked politically against the Indonesians. After the occupation, he was appointed Minister of Infrastructure by the UN administration until the new government was elected. Today the UDT is accused of having initially allied itself with the Indonesians against FRETILIN. The UDT protests against this accusation that it is only justified for individual party members.
The lawyer Lúcia Lobato is a member of parliament for the PSD and the only woman among the candidates. First, the conservative PSD had asked the rebel leader Alfredo Reinado to run as a candidate in the presidential elections, later the party leader Mário Viegas Carrascalão announced his candidacy, but finally Lúcia Lobato ran.
Avelino Coelho da Silva , the General Secretary of the PST , first fought against the Indonesian occupiers in FALINTIL before he began studying in Indonesia. There he founded the Associação Socialista Timorense AST, the predecessor of the PST, which was intended to address both Timorese students and Indonesian workers.
The lawyer Manuel Tilman is the general secretary of KOTA . He worked in Portugal and Macau for a long time . During the Indonesian occupation, Tilman is said to have had close relationships with the family of Indonesian President Suharto . The KOTA is supported less by the common people than by the families of the Liurai , the traditional petty kings of Timor . Jacob Xavier , chairman of the Partido do Povo de Timor (PPT) , also spoke out in favor of Tilman .
Amaral, Araújo, Lobato and Tilman are members of the Mambai ethnic group from the west of the country.
Situation of the country
East Timor is the poorest country in Asia. 41% of the population live below the poverty line, which the United Nations has set at $ 0.55 a day. In the 2006 Human Development Index , East Timor ranks 142nd. The rich oil and natural gas reserves south of Timor are still about to be exploited. A contract was signed with Australia on the distribution of the deposits.
At least 37 people died in the riots last year when almost half of the army mutinied and fighting broke out between the mutineers and the police . In addition there were looting, arson and fighting between youth gangs , ethnic conflicts broke out. Prime Minister Alkatiri from FRETILIN was finally forced to resign. 100,000 people still live in refugee camps. An international reaction force under the leadership of Australia ensured peace and order again, and a new UN peacekeeping mission ( UNMIT ) was sent to East Timor to secure the 2007 elections. Nevertheless, clashes between the youth gangs and arson attacks occur again and again.
One of the mutinous soldiers, Alfredo Reinado, broke with several companions from a prison in which they were held for illegally possessing weapons. In early March, the fugitives were surrounded by the Australian army in Same . Four rebels died when they stormed the city, the others escaped. It was feared that this would pose a threat to the peaceful course of the elections.
Preparations and election campaign
In October 2006, the then Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, set up a team of experts to monitor the correct conduct of the elections. The Australian government, the European Union and Japan each sent a team of election observers . A total of 2,250 domestic and foreign election observers monitored the first vote.
The UNMIT supported the eight campaigner with a Candidate Resource Center , ready in the computer and copy machines. In addition, each candidate received $ 10,000 for the production of promotional materials such as flags, posters, banners, and leaflets.
Fears that the crisis surrounding the fugitive rebel chief Alfredo Reinado could influence the election were not confirmed. But towards the end of the election campaign there were repeated clashes between supporters of the previously dominant FRETILIN and other parties. The most serious incident occurred on March 30, 2007 in Viqueque , in which clashes between his supporters and supporters of FRETILIN occurred after an election campaign event in Ramos-Horta. 20 people were injured. It is not known who started. In the same week, supporters of Avelino Coelho da Silva are said to have been attacked in Vemasse and on April 1st in Macadique ( sub- district Uato-Lari ) 20 FRETILIN supporters threw stones at an event by Fernando de Araújo. According to the CNE National Electoral Commission, there is also a case of political violence in Lospalos . On April 4th, 32 people were injured in clashes between FRETILIN and members of the PD in Dili. The UN police had to drive the rioters apart with warning shots and tear gas.
On April 5th, the last day of the election campaign, the representative of the Catholic Church in the National Electoral Commission, Father Martinho Gusmão , spoke out in favor of the PD candidate Fernando de Araújo as president. The 43-year-old is "the one who could lead East Timor out of the crisis". Father Martinho told journalists that the priests and bishops would not vote in favor of a candidate at Mass, but outside the church it was the clergy to tell the voters who they thought was the best candidate. It was believed that Father Martinho's opinion could have a powerful influence on the opinion of priests in East Timor. He denied any conflicts of interest between his testimony and membership in the National Electoral Commission. “We enjoy the freedom to say what we want,” he said. Over 90% of East Timorese are Catholics.
On April 6, Carrascalão, Araújo, Lobato and Amaral published a joint statement in which they spoke of attempted election manipulation. They accused FRETILIN that their election observers would receive preferential treatment. While their people had only received the necessary IDs a week before the election and thus too late to adequately check the election, the FRETILIN supporters received the IDs much earlier. The four candidates also complained about the violent clashes and asked the UN to ensure a safe election.
First ballot and counting
The first ballot was peaceful, apart from a few minor riots. An additional 5,000 ballot papers had to be flown to polling stations by helicopter due to the high turnout. However, voters in four villages in Viqueque could not vote because there were not enough ballot papers and the villages were too remote for a subsequent delivery.
The spokesman for the National Electoral Commission, Martinho Gusmão, announced on April 10th that in the capital Dili, where 90,000 voters were registered, Ramos-Horta received 30% of the vote, Araújo 25% and Amaral and Guterres each 20%. If the country was initially head-to-head between the favorites Ramos-Horta, Araújo and Guterres (in that order), Guterres suddenly took the lead with 28.3% after the most votes were counted. Ramos-Horta achieved 22.5% and Araújo 18.6%. This made it necessary for a runoff between Guterres and Ramos-Horta.
In the meantime, the candidates Araújo, Amaral, Coelho da Silva, Lobato and Tilman have called on the National Electoral Commission and the UN Mission in East Timor to stop the counting of votes, to secure the ballot boxes and to conduct another public count in the presence of all eight candidates. Intimidation and terror would have affected the election. Members of the FRETILIN government influenced voters in polling stations and the ballot boxes were not continuously monitored. The discrepancies in the number of votes and the number of voters are serious: First there were reports that the turnout was 90 to 98% of 522,933 registered voters, but the preliminary number of valid votes was only 357,766 (68.42%) ). Either a quarter of the voters did not vote - which would contradict the reports of a lack of ballot papers in many restaurants - or there were a large number of invalid and empty ballot papers. However, their share was only one to two percent when counting on election night. The jump from Guterres' share of the vote from 23% after counting from 70% of the votes to 29% within one day also astonished some observers. Ramos-Horta said he would welcome a recount but would also accept the current result.
On April 13, the National Electoral Commission rejected the request for a recount. Complaints would be forwarded to the appeals court. The UN supported this approach. Ramos-Horta suspected that the bad weather and the insufficient number of polling stations in some parts of the country had deterred many from voting. The head of the EU election observer, Javier Pomes Ruiz, judged that the election was largely legal and with a high turnout. As the holder of the EU presidency, Germany called on all parties to accept the election result. A few hours later, the National Electoral Commission had to confirm that 95 unopened ballot boxes with a few hundred votes had been found that had not yet been counted. 59 of them come from the capital Dili. The Commission will now call the court so that the urns can be opened for the count.
On April 14th, Martinho Gusmão, who was nicknamed the Mad Monk because of the chaos, criticized officials of the electoral authority STAE ( Secreteriado Técnico de Administração Eleitoral ) and election workers for not having carried out their work conscientiously during the election. There was a lack of pens, counting slips had been changed, forged voting slips were used and votes were held several times. A district had to stop counting because the senior officer forgot the computer password. After the third incorrect entry, a UN IT expert had to be flown in by helicopter so that the count could continue. Some of the voters did not know how to cast their vote. In some districts, including Dili, the number of votes cast did not match that of the ballot papers. In the Baucau district 300,000 votes would have been counted, although only 51,000 voters were registered. The discrepancy was later attributed to a technical error. Members of the electoral commission reported that in some constituencies 30% of the invalidated ballot papers were actually valid. In addition, the count of 81 ballot boxes from three districts is doubtful. Araújo said the irregularities and "repugnant, anti-democratic and manipulative acts" were enough to invalidate the election. FRETILIN described Araújo as a bad loser. For his part, he accused three members of the FRETILIN government of being involved in the irregularities. For example, the police found 350 blank ballot papers in State Minister Ana Pessoa Pinto's car , but the incident was covered up.
On April 16, Martinho Gusmão announced that 42 ballot boxes would be reopened because the related documents were incomplete. They came from seven districts of East Timor, including Dili . For a further 26 ballot boxes, legal steps have been taken to reopen due to discrepancies. Gusmão said there were concerns that the documents had not been properly completed, but did not want to go into the exact issues or the number of voices affected. The controls would not have any influence on the result known so far, said Gusmão.
On April 18, the chairman of the National Electoral Commission, Faustino Cardoso, announced the official final result of the first round of the presidential election.
| First round of presidential elections in East Timor on April 9, 2007 | ||
| Candidate (party) | be right | % |
|---|---|---|
| Francisco Lu-Olo Guterres ( FRETILIN ) | 112,666 | 27.89 |
| José Ramos-Horta ( independent ) | 88.102 | 21.81 |
| Fernando La Sama de Araújo ( PD ) | 77,459 | 19.18 |
| Francisco Xavier do Amaral ( ASDT ) | 58,125 | 14.39 |
| Lúcia Lobato ( PSD ) | 35,789 | 8.86 |
| Manuel Tilman ( KOTA ) | 16,534 | 4.09 |
| Avelino Coelho da Silva ( PST ) | 8,338 | 2.06 |
| João Carrascalão ( UDT ) | 6,928 | 1.72 |
| valid votes | 403.941 | 94.56 |
| Total (participation: 81.79%) | 427.712 | 100.00 |
As none of the candidates was able to win more than 50% of the votes straight away, a runoff between the two candidates with the highest number of votes, Guterres and Ramos-Horta, was scheduled for May 9th. Third-placed Fernando de Araújo, Lúcia Lobato and Francisco Xavier do Amaral collected on April 19 before the Tribunal de Recurso de Timor-Leste ( German Court of Appeal of East Timor ), the highest court of East Timor, appeal against the result. Two days later, however, the chairman of the court, Cláudio Ximenes, confirmed the results of the April 9 ballot as final.
In conclusion, the UN team of experts criticized the election as not being “carried out satisfactorily”. Only 13 out of 52 international criteria for a typical well-executed election were met. 20 points were not fulfilled, 13 others only partially. No evaluation could be carried out for six points. There were problems with the registration of voters and the interference of a government minister in the electoral administration. The team found that the election environment was largely peaceful, save for a few pre-election outbreaks of violence which did not create a “general climate of instability through fear in the country”. UNMIT called the first round of the election “not perfect”, but overall free and fair.
Second ballot
Araújo and four other losing candidates called on their supporters to vote for Ramos-Horta in the runoff election. Members of the PD stated that the end of the manhunt for the rebel Alfredo Reinado and the talks with him that had now started were a prerequisite for the party's support for Ramos-Horta. Guterres criticized this decision as a mere measure by Ramos-Horta to get more votes. He also asked Ramos-Horta to disclose his assets. Guterres pointed out that apart from a small fortune and the family home in the east of the country, he had no bank accounts, no savings, no investments and no shares. The Ramos-Hortas office stated that the prime minister's financial circumstances had long been disclosed, although there was no obligation to do so. Ramos-Horta owns a house in Dili and one in Sydney . He also receives income from international lecture tours.
The election campaign became more intense. FRETILIN criticized Colonel Railos for campaigning for Ramos-Horta in the west of Liquiçá . The disgraced sergeant confessed in 2006 that he had set up an illegal militia for the FRETILIN Prime Minister Marí Alkatiri during the riots at the time to eliminate political opponents, and had brought him down with him.
Marcus Lobato , a village chief, said the Ainaro district's 28,000 voters had been called on to vote for Ramos-Horta. Here he received only a few votes in the first round. The region is one of the poorest in the country. Twelve percent of the population suffer from malnutrition, every tenth child dies before their fifth birthday and life expectancy is just 57 years. According to Lobato, all non-FRETILIN parties would stand behind Ramos-Horta here, as the party leadership in Dili had decided so. “We were told that Mr. Ramos-Horta was a credible man who could help us.” Two weeks earlier, Ramos-Horta had sent a truck with blankets to the village of Hatu-Builico , which is the highest and coldest place in the country. The blankets were a donation from Kuwait . Village chief Antonio Lopes reported that the FRETILIN government ignored the appeals for aid when people were starving after poor harvests last year.
On May 7th, FRETILIN managing director and Minister for Natural Resources and Energy, José Teixeira , accused the foreign troops of intimidating his party's supporters and trying to disrupt two election campaign events. For example, during an event on May 3, a helicopter landed in Ainaro and soldiers in full riot gear ran through the rows of spectators. Teixeira said: "We are not convinced that there is no connection between the behavior of the troops and the clear support for Ramos-Horta from the Australian government." Shortly before, Guterres had called on his supporters to accept the election result if he did should lose. "If that's what people want, one has to accept his victory and the other his fate," said Guterres. The Australian Supreme Commander in East Timor Brigadier General Mel Rerden initially made no comment on the allegations. In the past, however, he had emphasized that the Australian troops were only in East Timor to prevent further bloodshed.
The day before the second ballot was largely peaceful. There was a minor clash in Dili, which had nothing to do with the election but with gang fighting. One man was injured. The UN police dispersed the fighters with tear gas and warning shots in the air. To secure the second round of elections, 1,700 UN police officers are distributed in addition to the international troops in the country. 272 foreign and 2,000 local election observers monitored the vote. Minor irregularities were discovered. For example, 87 completed ballot papers showed up in a polling station before the ballot began, and young people had registration cards for voting even though they were not yet 17 years old.
After counting all electoral districts, it was clear on May 11, 2007 that José Ramos-Horta had been elected as the new President of East Timor with 69% of the vote. Ramos-Horta's opponent, Francisco Guterres, received 31% of the vote after the final result of Wednesday's runoff election.
| Presidential election in East Timor on May 9, 2007 | ||
| District | José Ramos-Horta ( independent ) | Francisco Guterres ( FRETILIN ) |
|---|---|---|
| Aileu | 16,591 | 1,075 |
| Ainaro | 16,395 | 5.121 |
| Baucau | 16,987 | 33,745 |
| Bobonaro | 30,351 | 5,504 |
| Cova Lima | 17,246 | 5,343 |
| Dili | 63.010 | 15,787 |
| Ermera | 33,923 | 7,198 |
| Lautém | 12,919 | 13,547 |
| Liquiçá | 20,705 | 2,881 |
| Manatuto | 13,571 | 3,240 |
| Manufahi | 14,362 | 4,857 |
| Oe-Cusse Ambeno | 19,332 | 6,879 |
| Viqueque | 10,443 | 22,165 |
| East Timor | 285,835 ( 69.18% ) | 127,342 ( 30.82% ) |
| valid votes | 413,177 ( 97.34% ) | |
| Eligible voters | 424,475 ( turnout 81.00% ) | |
After the election
While the ballot was described as largely fair and peaceful, rioting broke out on May 10 in the south of the Viqueque district, according to the newspaper Suara Timor Lorosae . Ramos-Horta supporters have been attacked. Two houses were burned down and six others were badly damaged. Three people were arrested for the attacks, but it remained unclear whether they were FRETILIN militants. Their candidate Francisco Guterres had admitted defeat on the same day. Four days later, seven more houses were set on fire by gangs in the districts of Viqueque and Ermera , nine more were destroyed and 14 people were injured. In Ermera a man died in a clash between two groups, but here, too, it is not clear whether they were supporters of the two runoff candidates Guterres and Ramos-Horta. Regardless of the election, there was a street fight between two martial arts groups in which 19 people were injured. There were clashes between rival political groups in Liquiça on May 15, but there were no casualties here. On the night of May 16, a mob burned four houses in Dili's suburb of Bairro Pite during fighting between street gangs . 17 people were arrested and no one was injured. UN policemen ended the fighting.
On May 16, the responsible court officially confirmed the official final result and the victory of José Ramos-Horta. He resigned as Prime Minister and Minister of Defense on May 19 . Estanislau da Silva became the new prime minister . On May 20th, the fifth independence day of East Timor, Ramos-Horta took over the office of President from Xanana Gusmão. Only a few hours later, a man died in a clash between FRETILIN supporters from the east of the country and supporters of Ramos-Horta. 40 people were arrested.
Ramos-Horta is considered to be facing the West and business-friendly. Many East Timorese hoped that it would bring peace back to the country. Ramos-Horta said he wanted to be more active in the presidency than his predecessor. Xanana Gusmão had little influence until the riots of 2006. At that time he prevailed against Prime Minister Alkatiri and forced his resignation in favor of his political friend Ramos-Horta. Since Xanana Gusmão and his new party CNRT prevailed in the parliamentary elections on June 30th and became Prime Minister, he and Ramos-Horta swapped the most important political offices in the country and ousted FRETILIN from power.
Web links
- ETAN: 2007 Timor-Leste Election Resources
- Homepage of the National Electoral Commission CNE (tetum and Portuguese)
- Final result of the first round, broken down by district (PDF)
- Secretariado Técnico de Administração Eleitoral STAE ( Memento of January 22, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (Portuguese)
- UNDP Timor-Leste ( Memento of September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
- European Union Election Observation Mission Timor - Leste 2007 (English)
- Law on the election of the president (English, PDF; 193 kB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Timor blogspot, September 13, 2006
- ^ CNN, May 16, 2002, Xanana Gusmao: East Timor's reluctant leader
- ↑ a b NZZ, July 2, 2007, First parliamentary elections in East Timor
- ↑ Arena: George Aditjondro, From Colony to Global Prize ( Memento from July 20, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Douglas Kammen: Fragments of utopia: Popular yearnings in East Timor , Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 40 (2), pp. 385–408 June 2009, doi: 10.1017 / S0022463409000216 .
- ^ Stawell, March 10, 2007, Timorese prepare to elect new president
- ↑ Human Development Report 2006 ( Memento from January 25, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ For detailed sources, see Unrest in East Timor 2006 .
- ^ Herald Sun, May 15, 2007, East Timor rebel offers to surrender
- ^ Scoop, April 5, 2007, Importance of Timor-Leste Election
- ^ The West Australian, April 2, 2007 ( Memento of September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Northern Territory News, Apr. 2, 2007, Fugitive rebel major 'no longer a threat'
- ^ CNN, April 5, 2007, Clashes precede East Timor elections
- ^ The Age, April 5, 2007, Catholic Church enters East Timor elections
- ↑ BBC, April 6, 2007, East Timor election 'manipulated'
- ^ Bathurst, April 9, 2007, Vote counting under way in East Timor
- ↑ Adelaide now, April 10, 2007, Nobel laureate could be president
- ^ Neue Zürcher Zeitung, April 11, 2007, second ballot required in East Timor ( Memento from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ BBC, April 11, 2004, East Timor set for vote run-off
- ^ The Australian, April 11, 2007, East Timor poll candidates threaten court action
- ↑ IOL, April 11, 2007, Stop counting the votes, demand candidates ( Memento from August 2, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
- ↑ Crickey, April 12, 2007, East Timor's presidential vote suddenly goes awfully wrong ( Memento of September 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ E Timor election commission rejects recount calls ( memento from September 26, 2014 in the web archive archive.today )
- ↑ ABC news, April 13, 2007, Unopened ballot boxes found in East Timor
- ↑ Channel NewsAsia, April 14, 2007, Major "problems" in Timor vote: official
- ^ The West Australian, April 14, 2007, More claims of East Timor vote rigging ( Memento of September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Newcastle, April 14, 2007, Vote fraud fears grow in Dili
- ^ Telegraph, April 14, 2007, Mad monks, ghost voters and pen shortages: elections, East Timor style
- ^ Northern Territory News, Apr. 17, 2007, More discrepancies found after election
- ↑ a b Adelaide now, April 19, 2007, Losing candidates appeal election results
- ^ National Electoral Commission CNE, Official Final Result ( Memento of September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ a b Asia Pacific News, April 26, 2007, Timor Leste's Ramos-Horta wins key support for runoff
- ↑ a b TVNZ, April 30, 2007, Report slams Timor's presidential vote
- ^ A b c Sydney Morning Herald, May 5, 2007, Navigating the difficult high road
- ↑ ABC news, May 4, 2007, Rival urges Ramos Horta to declare personal wealth
- ↑ Gulf Times, May 7, 2007, ISF soldiers 'intimidating Timor voters' ( Memento from September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Reuters, May 8, 2007, East Timor faces presidential election run-off
- ^ ABC Radio Australia, May 10, 2007, East Timor electoral count continues
- ↑ a b NZZ, May 11, 2007, Ramos-Horta wins elections in East Timor
- ↑ National Electoral Commission: Official Final Result (Tetum) ( Memento from June 21, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Channel News Asia, May 12, 2007, Timor Leste's president-elect to visit Indonesia
- ^ CBS News, May 15, 2007, Violence Hits East Timor ( September 8, 2014 memento in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Reuters, June 16, 2007, One killed, over 20 injured in clashes in East Timor
- ↑ ABC news, June 16, 2007, Houses burnt down in E Timor mob violence ( Memento of May 18, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Today online, May 16, 2007, Ramos-Horta declared ETimor president as violence flares
- ↑ a b E Timor's interim PM sworn in , ABC news, May 19, 2007.
- ^ BBC, May 20, 2007, E Timor's new president sworn in
- ^ RTE, May 20, 2007, Rival groups clash in East Timor
