EAST TIMOR: Presidential campaign kicks off in East Timor where voters in one of the world's youngest nations are hoping for stability and social security
Record ID:
346510
EAST TIMOR: Presidential campaign kicks off in East Timor where voters in one of the world's youngest nations are hoping for stability and social security
- Title: EAST TIMOR: Presidential campaign kicks off in East Timor where voters in one of the world's youngest nations are hoping for stability and social security
- Date: 1st March 2012
- Summary: DILI, EAST TIMOR (FEBRUARY 29, 2012) (REUTERS) PEOPLE GATHERING FOR CAMPAIGN OF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE AND FORMER ARMY CHIEF, TAUR MATAN RUAK CAMPAIGN ON PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Tetun) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE AND FORMER ARMY CHIEF, TAUR MATAN RUAK, SAYING: "Together with the people, I want to build a powerful nation, one that is rich and peaceful." RUAK'S SUPPORTERS HOLD HIS PICTURE (SOUNDBITE) (Tetun) LOCAL RESIDENT, MANUEL MARCAL, SAYING: "I hope the next president will be someone who will make legislation more clearly beneficial in providing welfare for the poor and for people who helped fight for independence." RUAK TALKS WITH HIS SUPPORTER ON STAGE DURING THE CAMPAIGN (SOUNDBITE) (Tetun) LOCAL RESIDENT, MANUEL MARCAL, SAYING: "I believe that Taur Matan Ruak will win the election -- he's the one who knows what the people want, because he's suffered them for almost 24 years." PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE POSTER FRANCISCO GUTERRES FROM FRETILIN PARTY AT ROAD SIDE STREET IN DILI
- Embargoed: 16th March 2012 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Indonesia
- Country: Indonesia
- Topics: Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAAC15BJA14Z40B4KE4QAB99S8N
- Story Text: East Timor's presidential election campaign began on Wednesday (February 29), with a favourite Taur Matan Ruak, appearing in the capital Dili.
Hundreds turned up to support the former army chief who is the first candidate to host his campaign in the capital.
Thirteen other candidates have said they will contest the presidency, including incumbent, President Jose Ramos-Horta, the parilamentary president, Fernando Lasama de Araujo, and Francisco Guterres of the Fretilin party, which holds about 30 percent of the seats in parliament.
An attempted presidential assassination in 2008, symptomatic of the fragility of East Timor, one of the world's youngest nations, would not define the next stage in the country's growth, Ruak said, adding that he would bring stability and wealth to the island.
"Together with the people, I want to build a powerful nation, one that is rich and peaceful," he told gathered supporters.
Many of the hundreds that attended Ruak's campaign in the capital said they wanted better social support, especially for the hard-up and for those who helped the country win its independence from Indonesia in 1999.
"I hope the next president will be someone who will make legislation more clearly beneficial in providing welfare for the poor and for people who helped fight for independence," said local resident Manuel Marcal.
Ruak helped lead an insurgent army which resisted the Indonesian occupation of the island, which began when the island was annexed in 1975.
"I believe that Taur Matan Ruak will win the election -- he's the one who knows what the people want, because he's suffered them for almost 24 years," Marcal added.
East Timor was a long-neglected Portuguese colony on the eastern half of a remote island in the southwest Pacific when Indonesia invaded in 1975.
Ramos-Horta, like the country's prime minister, Xanana Gusmao, was a prominent member of the campaign against Indonesian rule.
East Timor became the world's newest nation in 2002 after voting for independence from Indonesia in 1999, triggering a violent backlash from pro-Jakarta militia groups that destroyed almost 70 percent of buildings, including houses and schools.
Ten years on, the tiny country still remains fragile.
Any public anger or frustration could trigger a repeat of the unrest of 2006, when different ethnic groups warred with one another in part over limited access to jobs and economic opportunities in one of the world's poorest nations - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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