Timor’s president said this Monday that he would invite the party with the most votes in Sunday’s elections to form a government and warned that he would not necessarily accept any coalition presented to him.
“I will invite the party with the most votes, with or without an absolute majority. If not, the party itself decides whether to invite another party. If there is a coalition, I will see who is in this coalition,” said José Ramos-Horta Luce.
“There are certain parties that will not pass under my signature. I just won’t accept any coalition that comes up,” he said after visiting the National Electoral Commission (CNE) this Monday to check Sunday’s vote.
The head of state spoke at a time when more than 82% of the polling stations were registered, and the National Congress for the Reconstruction of Timor (CNRT), led by Xanana Gusmão, has a comfortable majority of 41.09%.
In second place is Fretilin, who received about 26.4% of the vote.
If the current trend continues, the CNRT will win the election, but without an absolute majority, so it will need a coalition.
The most likely scenario is a coalition with the Democratic Party (DP), which is currently the third most voted force as the remaining three parties have made a platform agreement together to rule if they win.
On Sunday, after the vote, Mariano Assanami Sabino, president of the Democratic Party, told Luce that the party was ready to evaluate the possibility of an alliance with either the CNRT or Fretilin.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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