Commentator Joao Saldanha from the Timor Institute of Development in Dili has started the Republican party to run in East Timor's parliamentary elections in June.
Presenter: Sen Lam
Speaker: Dr Joao Saldanha, commentator from the Timor Institute of Development, Dili
Dr Saldanha: Well, one of the main reasons was that he didn't get the support of the CNRT of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao. But even without that support, he got to number three, and garnered about 78-thousand votes by yesterday. Actually, that's not bad at all. If his campaign had been a bit livelier, more vigorous, he could probably have got to number two, I believe. But he chose a low-key campaign, it was mostly door-to-door, then he lost to a key political ally.
Lam: So can you tell us more about the second round of this presidential election, next month, in April?
Dr Saldanha: If you look at the 2008, which is the 2012 results, the results kinda mirrored the 2008 poll. Francisco Lu Olo Gutteres, get the hierarchical support of Fretilin, which was 29 percent or so in 2007. For Taur Matan Ruak, he kind of came from behind, but he got the support of CNRT, which is 25 percent. Now the question is, whether either candidate can woo Dr Ramos-Horta's support, or D'Araujo's support or other candidate's support – that way, to win the second round. It's quite relative, but both have different strengths and different weaknesses. To the extent of the President, of course Jose Ramos-Horta did his job pretty well. The issue with Taur Matan Ruak, is how he will reach out to the western district. Before, some people who may vote against him, so he has to address that issue, even in the election and when if he wins, he still needs to settle that with people. On Lu Olo, he's supported basically by hardcore Fretilin, and whether they will maintain the same forces as in the past, or he has to change his performance. So not do you have to reach out to your bases, but also to reach out to the other people, moving together to solve some problems, regarding the country.
Lam: None of the 12 candidates of course got over 50 percent of the vote that was required for outright win. So might we read into that, that East Timor is still a polarised country, with varied factional interests?
Dr Saldanha: That is a possibility. But I think our electoral laws, for the president and for the parliament, are very generous. In a way that you provide room for everybody, for many people to run. The other one is, our electoral law also is proportional representation, so that also provides room for a lot of political parties to come up. So if we want to have a smaller number of candidates for presidential election, we should do some reform. I don't think it's a polarised society, it just represents the diversity of the East Timorese views.
Lam: Overall, this presidential election has been as a test of East Timorese democracy at work. Do you think it passed with flying colours?
Dr Saldanha: I think whether it's passed the test or not, but if you look into the results, into the way people come and participate, the enthusiasm is there, the candidates are advanced, the number of people who come in to vote, they're all very happy and voting. So I think democracy has been cemented and it's growing. There're people in the east, with typical support of certain candidates, who still think intimidation is a way, but I hope that their numbers will reduce slowly, so that we can get to the point where people choose with their own conscience and choose whoever wins them, and they get accustomed to the way they choose people every five years, go back to the booth and elect a new guy. It's just a normal thing and that will be just fine.
Lam: But you think this entire process has certainly cemented democracy in East Timor and the democratic process?
Dr Saldanha: It's very, very strongly cemented. And we're happy about that, and this is something that East Timorese should be proud of.