Ruak elected EastTimor president
Former guerrilla and defence chief Taur Matan Ruak has won East Timor’s run-off presidential vote, preliminary results showed Tuesday.
Ruak won 275,441 votes, or 61.23 percent, while Francisco Guterres, known as “Lu Olo”, took 174,386, or 38.77 percent, according to a count announced by the elections secretariat, which organised Monday’s polls.
Ruak, 55, is set to take the presidency as the young democracy prepares to celebrate a decade of independence and bid farewell to UN forces.
The results from Monday’s polls must be examined by the court of appeals before they are officially announced.
If the results are confirmed, he will become the leader of an impoverished and chronically unstable country, replacing the Nobel Prize-winning incumbent Jose Ramos-Horta, who trailed in third place in the first round on March 17.
Throughout his campaign Ruak reinforced his military image. Like Lu Olo, Ruak is a hero of the 24-year guerrilla war against Indonesian occupation.
Ruak, who resigned as defence chief late last year to run for president, had vowed to introduce mandatory military service if elected.
Ruak, whose name means “piercing eyes” in the local Tetum language, was accused by the United Nations of involvement in illegal weapons transfers in 2006, when rioting and factional fighting left the nation on the brink of civil war.
However, no attempts have been made to prosecute him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taur_Matan_Ruak
Taur Matan Ruak played a role on the 2006 East Timorese crisis. On 2 October 2006, the United Nations Independent Special Commission of Inquiry made a number of recommendations including that several individuals be prosecuted. Notably, it found that Interior Minister Rogerio Lobato, and Defence Minister Roque Rodrigues and Defence Force Chief Taur Matan Ruak acted illegally in transferring weapons to civilians during the crisis.
Ruak resigned from his position as commander of the F-FDTL on 1 September 2011. At the time there was speculation that he was considering running for president. Ruak stated that he would make a decision on standing for election during 2012.
He was formally decommissioned by President José Ramos-Horta on 6 October 2011.
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technically a war criminal but no charges ever laid..i dont know much about him..anyone who can help with some background would be appreciated..east timor is very close to australia so i take a big interest in them and of course with the indonesian connection..
401
here’s the deal, indonesian fascists, backed by the same-old same-old USA THUGZ, INC., attempted to commit total genocide against the people of east timor – and they nearly succeeded, killing about 1/3 of their total population. good old liberal-fuck jimmy carter helped them out quite a bit.
so, if i hear that someone distributed guns to civilians – civilians who were being subjected to genocide – well, that’s no war criminal, that’s a hero.
what compromises he has had to make, or what his current stands are, i have no idea.
yes..i wasnt saying i think hes a criminal but in the eyes of the international community he is..via the 2006 charges..