- Title: Profile of PM candidate Mari Alkatiri as East Timor heads to the polls
- Date: 21st May 2023
- Summary: Mari Alkatiri attended a congress meeting of the Revolutionary Front for an Independent Timor-Leste (FRETILIN) party ahead of East Timor's first election after the country won independence from Indonesia in a landmark referendum in 1999. Alkatiri, who is a Muslim in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation, spent several decades living in exile in Mozambique during East Timor's struggle for independence. DILI, EAST TIMOR (FILE - NOVEMBER, 2000) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** MARI ALKATIRI, AND THEN-GENERAL COORDINATOR OF REVOLUTIONARY FRONT FOR AN INDEPENDENT TIMOR-LESTE (FRETILIN) PARTY, FRANCISCO "LU-OLO" GUTERRES, WITH HANDS CLENCHED SINGING PARTY ANTHEM
- Embargoed: 4th June 2023 08:49
- Keywords: East Timor East Timorese Muslim Mari Alkatiri Mari Bem Amude Alkatiri Prime Minister Profile
- Location: DILI, EAST TIMOR
- City: DILI, EAST TIMOR
- Country: East Timor
- Topics: Asia / Pacific,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001200301011970RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: East Timorese voters headed to the polls on Sunday (May 21) in a parliamentary election in which resistance figure Mari Alkatiri's party is a main contender.
Alkatiri leads FRETILIN, with their main competitor in this election expected to be the National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT), led by independence hero Xanana Gusmao.
The party with a parliamentary majority will nominate the next prime minister, who is expected to be either Alkatiri or Gusmao depending on election results. Some polls showed CNRT ahead.
Alkatiri previously served as East Timor's first prime minister after the nation formally declared its independence in 2002 and formed its first constitutional government cabinet. He also stood out for being a Muslim politician in the predominantly Catholic country.
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