Socialist Party of Timor

The Socialist Party of Timor was founded in February 1997, whilst East Timor was still under Indonesian occupation (though it claims it was founded earlier on 20 December 1990).[1] It is a splinter party of the Fretilin and was established by Avelino Maria da Silva Coelho, Pedro Martires da Costa and Antonio Maher Lopes. Labour and student groups based in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta and other Indonesian cities where East Timorese studied and worked formed the basis of PST's members.[1] The party's first national congress was held from 10–11 February 2000 in Dili, the capital of East Timor.[1]

The PST's political structure includes a political bureau, a central committee, and labour, women's and youth wings. The party also publishes a newsletter named Vanguarda and has international ties with a range of political organisations and trade unions in Portugal, Western Europe, Australia and Indonesia.[1]

In the parliamentary election held on 30 August 2001, the party won 1.8% of the popular vote and 1 out of 88 seats. In the parliamentary election held on 30 June 2007, the party won 0.96% of the vote and did not win any seats, as it did not reach the 3% threshold for winning seats.[2]

In the 2007 parliamentary election, the PST won less than 1% of the vote and failed to win a seat.[1] The party's candidate in the April 2007 presidential election was Avelino Coelho da Silva, who took seventh place with 2.06% of the vote.[3]

In the October 2009 local elections, the PST won 79 out of 4,889 positions.[1]