ASIA/EAST TIMOR - Ramos-Horta will be the new President of East Timor, official elections results still to be announced

Thursday, 10 May 2007

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Dili (Agenzia Fides) - Outgoing Prime Minister, Nobel peace prize winner José Ramos-Horta, will be the new president of the Republic of East Timor. Temporary results of the 8 May election announced with 90% of the votes counted, gave Ramos-Horta more than 70% of the votes, according to the National Electoral Commission
Ramos-Horta was expected to win. The other candidate was Francisco Guterres backed by Fretilin. The official results will be announced within days. The vote was peaceful and trouble free: a good result according to international observers, considering the past 12 months of instability and disorder in the small Asian nation.
The winner will succeed popular Xanana Gusmao, historical independence leader. Ramos-Horta has promised to put the country back on the road to social harmony and development.
In the Summer the Timorese will vote for members of parliament from which will come a new prime minister and government.
In this difficult time of adaptation to independence the local Church in East Timor, where 90% of the people are Catholics, has played an indispensable part to promote national reconciliation working above all with young people, who constitute a large part of the population. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 10/5/2007 righe 26 parole 264)