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A woman casts her ballot at a polling station during the parliamentary election in Dili, Timor-Leste, May 21, 2023. /CFP
With two-thirds of votes counted in Timor-Leste's parliamentary election, independence hero Xanana Gusmao's party is leading, state media showed on Monday, heralding a possible return to power for the former rebel after nearly a decade in opposition.
Sunday's election, which will pave the way for the winning party or a coalition of parties to appoint the head of government, is a battle for the premiership between Gusmao and Mari Alkatiri, another resistance-era figure from the ruling party.
With nearly 70 percent of ballots counted, Gusmao's opposition party, the National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT), had about 40 percent of votes, according to election commission data as broadcast by state media Radio-Televisao Timor Leste.
The ruling Revolutionary Front for an Independent Timor-Leste (FRETILIN), which leads a four-party coalition backing the incumbent prime minister Jose Maria Vasconcelos, or Taur Matan Ruak, had about 27 percent of the votes.
Fifteen other parties were contesting the poll, though none had more than 10 percent of votes as of Monday.
The election is Timor-Leste's fifth parliamentary poll since it gained full independence in 2002 following decades-long occupation by Indonesia.
Heavily dependant on its fast-depleting oil reserves for revenue, the half-island nation of 1.3 million people has grappled with diversifying its economy and reducing high rates of poverty.
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Disinformation report hotline: 010-85061466