Dili, 22 May 2023 (Lusa) – The United States today congratulated Timor-Leste for holding “free, fair and transparent” elections, stating that they “serve as an inspiration for democracy worldwide”.
“We congratulate the Timorese authorities for holding free, fair and transparent elections, and the hundreds of thousands of Timorese voters who peacefully voted and made their voices heard”, can be read in the statement from the US State Department.
In the same note, it is noted that “these elections reflect the commitment of the people of Timor-Leste to democracy and peaceful political processes and serve as an inspiration for democracy worldwide”.
“We wish the newly elected leaders success in their efforts to serve Timor-Leste and its people, and to build a safe, inclusive and prosperous society”, it adds.
The National Congress for the Reconstruction of Timor-Leste (CNRT), led by Xanana Gusmão, won Sunday’s elections, according to the provisional national results of the Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration (STAE), when the counting of votes is practically concluded, and it remains to be defined an absolute majority is obtained.
At the moment, it only remains to complete the tabulation in three municipalities – Bobonaro, Covalima and Manatuto -, with the counting already well advanced and the CNRT leading.
A record number of more than 890,000 voters were registered for the vote, in which 17 parties competed, in a suffrage in which the 65 deputies of the National Parliament are chosen.
Thousands of observers from Timor-Leste and several countries, as well as hundreds of journalists were accredited to follow the vote.
Timor-Leste, a former Portuguese colony until 1975, but invaded and annexed in the same year by Indonesia, became the youngest sovereign state of the 21st century, on May 20, 2002, the day on which the country marks the restoration of independence.
JMC (ASP) // PJA
Lusa/End
