Politics of East Timor

East Timor
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Timor-Leste
Constitution
Executive President Francisco Guterres Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak
Legislature National Parliament
Judiciary Supreme Court of Justice
Elections Recent elections Presidential: 2012 2017 Parliamentary: 2012 2017 2018 Political parties Politicians
Administrative divisions Municipalities Administrative posts Sucos
Foreign relations Foreign aid
Other countries Atlas

Politics of East Timor takes place in a framework of a unitary semi-presidential representative democratic republic,^[1][2][3] whereby the Prime Minister of East Timor is the head of government and the President of East Timor exercises the functions of head of state. East Timor has a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the president and the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Parliament. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The East Timorese constitution was modelled on that of Portugal, though the president is less powerful than their Portuguese counterpart.^[2] The country is still in the process of building its administration and governmental institutions. The Economist Intelligence Unit has rated East Timor as "flawed democracy" in 2016.^[4]

Executive branch

Government Palace in Dili

The head of state of the East Timorese republic is the President, who is directly elected by popular vote for a five-year term and whose executive powers are somewhat limited by the constitution, though he or she is able to veto legislation, which can be overridden by the parliament. Following elections, the president usually appoints as the prime minister, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition. As head of government the prime minister presides over the cabinet.

Legislative branch

Parliament of East Timor

The unicameral Timorese National Parliament (Parlamento Nacional) has 65 members elected by proportional representation (d'Hondt method) for a five-year term. The number of seats can vary from a minimum of 52 to a maximum of 65, though it exceptionally had 88 members during its first term which also exceptionally lasted six years – from 2001 to 2007 – this was because the constitution provided that the 88-member Constitutional Assembly would become the first parliament after the constitution entered into force in 2002.

The East Timorese constitution was modelled on that of Portugal. The country is still in the process of building its administration and governmental institutions.

Political parties and elections

  Summary of the 22 July 2017 East Timorese parliamentary election results

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
FRETILIN	168,480	29.7	23	2
National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction	167,345	29.5	22	8
People's Liberation Party	60,098	10.6	8	New
Democratic Party	55,608	9.8	7	1
Kmanek Haburas Unidade Nasional Timor Oan	36,547	6.4	5	5
United Party for Development and Democracy	15,887	2.8	0	New
Timorese Democratic Union	11,255	2.0	0	0
Frenti-Mudança	8,849	1.6	0	2
Hope of the Fatherland Party	6,775	1.2	0	New
Timorese People's Monarchy Association	5,461	1.0	0	0
Bloku Unidade Popular (PMD–PLPA–PDRT)	4,999	0.9	0	0
Socialist Party of Timor	4,891	0.9	0	0
Social Democratic Party	4,688	0.8	0	0
Republican Party	3,951	0.7	0	0
National Development Party	3,846	0.7	0	0
Timorese Social Democratic Central Action	2,330	0.4	0	New
People's Development Party	2,079	0.4	0	0
Christian Democratic Party	1,764	0.3	0	0
Freedom movement of the Maubere People	1,332	0.2	0	New
National Unity of Timorese Resistance	1,216	0.2	0	0
Timorese Democratic Party	669	0.1	0	0
Invalid/blank votes	15,886	–	–	–
Total	583,956	100	65	0
Registered voters/turnout	760,907	76.74	–	–
Source: CNE

Judicial branch

The Supreme Court of Justice has one judge appointed by the National Parliament and the rest appointed by the Superior Council for the Judiciary. As mentioned in a 2010 source, the country was in the process of developing a legal system that includes private practice attorneys.^[5]

Administrative divisions

Map of the districts of East Timor.

East Timor is divided into thirteen administrative districts:

The districts are subdivided into 65 subdistricts, 443 sucos and 2,336 towns, villages and hamlets. "". External link in |title= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)  (213 KiB)

Cabinet

Matan Ruak (2018-present) ^[6]

Alkatiri II (2017–2018) ^[7]

Araújo (2015–2017)^[8]

Gusmão II (2012-2015)^[9]

Gusmão I (2007-2012)^[10]

Alkatiri (2002-2007)^[11]

External links

• Official Web Gateway to the Government of Timor-Leste

References