DILI, 24 may 2023 (TATOLI) – Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak, today, congratulated National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT) after securing a big victory on Sunday’s Parliamentary Elections.
Ruak congratulated all political parties that contested the 2023 Parliamentary Elections, including the winning party CNRT.
Ruak thanked all citizens for their participation and contribution to the peaceful and stable elections in the country.
“I also thanked all the national and international observers, Timorese National Police (PNTL), Timorese National Defense Force (F-FDTL), electoral bodies, journalists, and others,” he said.
The Head of the Government said that the 2023 Parliamentary Elections are far better organized than other previous elections: “Our success in this election will give credibility and prestige to the country and value the democratic system and rule of law.”
As the President of the People’s Liberation Party (PLP) that competed in the may 21 parliamentary election, he accepted the result of the elections, saying it was the people’s decision.
“We accept what the people decide and not what we want. In fact, we want something else, for example, I may want to get eight or 20 seats, but that is not what the people want, so we accept the people’s decision,” Taur said.
Timor-Leste’s charismatic leader, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão’s party, National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT) secured a big victory over the ruling parties – the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (FRETILIN), People’s Liberation Party (PLP), and Kmanek Haburas Unidade Nasional Timor Oan (KHUNTO).
With all votes counted, Gusmão’s party was on 41.62 percent of the votes — a 16-point lead over the leading ruling party FRETILIN of the former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, which had 25.75 percent, PLP of the current Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak had 5.88 percent, and KHUNTO was on 7,52 percent of the votes.
According to the STAE municipal tabulation, the increase in seats from 21 to 31, allowed Gusmão’s CNRT to form a coalition. The municipal tabulation showed that both FRETILIN and PLP lost four seats each, with FRETILIN down from its current 23 seats to 19, and the PLP down from its current eight seats to four, except for KHUNTO, which is the only ruling party to keep its five seats.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party (PD), one of the opposition parties which is likely to form a coalition with Gusmão’s CNRT had 9.32 percent of the votes to secure six seats compared to five seats in the previous election.
Despite having many supporters, the Green Party, and the Unity Party for Democratic Development (PUDD) received only 3.63 percent and 3.13 percent of the votes respectively, making both parties fail to pass the electoral threshold of 4% to secure any seats. Besides, the other small parties received only less than one percent of the votes.
Of the 14 municipalities, CNRT dominated in 10 municipalities, winning the most votes, with the exception of three eastern municipalities won by FRETILIN. In addition, CNRT also won in all overseas polling stations, including Australia, Korea, the United Kingdom, and Portugal.
It is recalled that STAE had registered a total of 890,145 voters, 705,683 of whom participated in the parliamentary elections.
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges
