JAKARTA, May 21 (NNN-ANTARA) – Citizens of Timor-Leste, the world’s youngest democracy, go to the polls today, for a parliamentary election, the fifth since its independence in 2002.
More than 890,000 voters in the country, and around 11,800 voters abroad, are eligible to cast their ballots, to choose one out of 17 contesting political parties, according to data from the Timor-Leste’s Election Administration Technical Secretariat.
Based on the parliamentary election calendar, released on Timor-Leste’s government website, the Secretariat is scheduled to complete the final counting results before May 30. If there is no appeal against the election results, the country’s Court of Appeal will proclaim them no later than Jun 6.
As many as 65 members of the National Parliament will be elected, in a closed-list proportional representation, by the political parties that win the election, with each portion depending on the percentage of votes they will garner in the election results.
Each party must win at least four percent of the total valid votes to receive a seat. The party or party coalition with a majority of seats in parliament, will nominate the next prime minister. The parliament serves for a five-year term.
On May 11, a roadmap on Timor-Leste’s full membership of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has been adopted, at the 42nd ASEAN Summit, held in the town of Labuan Bajo, in eastern Indonesia.
