Politics of East Timor
The political system in East Timor is 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 functions as 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, with lesser power given to the president.[2] The country is still in the process of building its administration and governmental institutions. The Economist Intelligence Unit rated East Timor a "flawed democracy" in 2022.[4]
Recent developments[edit]
Francisco Guterres, known as Lú-Olo, of the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (Fretilin) was elected president in 2017 and held the position until May 2022.[7] The Alliance for Change and Progress (AMP), a three-party alliance, attempted to form a coalition with National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction, led by former president Xanana Gusmao, but the talks failed and Fretilin formed a minority government with the Timorese Democratic Party (DP) in September 2017. In October that year, the three opposition parties formed an alliance called Parliamentary Majority Oppositional Alliance (AOMP), and following pressures from this opposition alliance, president Guterres decided to dissolve the parliament in January 2018. This led to the second general election in May 2018.[8] In June 2018, former president Jose Maria de Vasconcelos known as Taur Matan Ruak of the Alliance of Change for Progress (AMP), became the new prime minister.[9] José Ramos-Horta of the centre-left CNRT has served as the president of East Timor since 20 May 2022 after winning the April 2022 presidential election runoff.[10]
In parliamentary elections held on Sunday, May 21, 2023, the opposition party led by Xanana Gusmao won 41% of the vote, making him likely to return as prime minister of the country in a coalition with at least one other party.[11]
Judicial branch[edit]
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.[12]