Francisco Guterres

Francisco Guterres, popularly known as Lú-Olo (born 7 September 1954[1]), is an East Timorese politician who has been President of East Timor since 2017. He is also the President of Fretilin, and he was President of the National Parliament of East Timor from 2002 to 2007. As the Fretilin candidate, he stood in the 2007 presidential election and 2012 presidential election, but was defeated in the second round by independent candidates on both occasions. He also contested the 2017 presidential election, and with the support of former Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão and his party, National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT), he was elected as President.

His Excellency

Francisco Guterres
6th President of East Timor
Assumed office
20 May 2017
Prime MinisterRui Maria de Araújo
Mari Alkatiri
Taur Matan Ruak
Preceded byTaur Matan Ruak
1st President of the National Parliament
In office
20 May 2002 – 31 July 2007
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byFernando de Araújo
President of the Constituent Assembly
In office
15 September 2001 – 20 May 2002
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byHimself as (President of the National Parliament)
Personal details
Born (1954-09-07) 7 September 1954
Ossu, Portuguese Timor
Political partyFretilin
Spouse(s)Cidália Lopes Nobre Mouzinho Guterres
ResidenceNicolau Lobato Presidential Palace
Signature

Life and career

Born in Ossu in 1954, Guterres has described himself as “the son of a poor family, of humble people”. He is a Roman Catholic and a former guerrilla fighter.[2] At an Extraordinary Conference of Fretilin in Sydney, Australia in 1998, Guterres was named General Coordinator of the Council of Armed Resistance. In July 2001, he was elected President of Fretilin. Guterres was elected to the Constituent Assembly in the August 2001 parliamentary election, and he was subsequently elected by the Constituent Assembly as its president; when East Timor gained its independence in May 2002, the Constituent Assembly was transformed into the National Parliament, with Guterres as its president.[1]

In the 2007 presidential election, Guterres ran as Fretilin's candidate and campaigned on a populist platform.[2] However, some members of Fretilin blamed him for the 2006 East Timorese crisis and instead supported Prime Minister José Ramos-Horta, who was running as an independent candidate.[2] In the first round of the election, held on 9 April, Guterres took first place with 27.89% of the vote.[3][4] He and Ramos-Horta participated in the second round in May, and Guterres lost with 31% of the vote against 69% for Ramos-Horta. He accepted the result and congratulated Ramos-Horta.[5]

Guterres was re-elected to parliament in the June 2007 parliamentary election as the first name on Fretilin's candidate list.[6]

In the 2017 presidential election, Guterres ran again as the Fretilin candidate, with the support of former Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão and his party, National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT). Early results indicated that he won more than 50% of votes in the first round.[7] Guterres took office on 20 May 2017 as the first elected partisan President of East Timor.

References
  1. Profile on National Parliament website.
  2. "Feature: Fretilin looms over Timor poll". The Australian. 6 April 2007. Retrieved 8 April 2007.
  3. Results from the National Electoral Commission (PDF), Comissão Nacional de Eleições Timor-Leste, 18 April 2007, archived from the original (PDF) on 16 February 2008Results from the National Electoral Commission (PDF), Comissão Nacional de Eleições Timor-Leste, 18 April 2007, archived from the original (PDF) on 16 February 2008
  4. "Two set to square off for presidency". news.com.au. AAP. 18 April 2007. Archived from the original on 15 February 2008.
  5. "Guterres congratulates Horta as new president of Timor-Leste". Xinhua ("People's Daily Online"). 11 May 2007.
  6. National Provisional Results from the 30 June 2007 Parliamentary Elections (PDF), Comissão Nacional de Eleições Timor-Leste, 9 July 2007, archived from the original (PDF) on 10 August 2007
  7. Hodge, Amanda (22 March 2017). "Francisco Guterres set to become East Timor's fourth president". The Australian. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
Political offices
New office President of the National Parliament
2002–2007		 Succeeded by
Fernando de Araújo
Preceded by
Taur Matan Ruak		 President of East Timor
2017–present		 Incumbent
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