• Listen to this segment

GUESTS: John Miller, National Coordinator of East Timor and Indonesia Action Network, Jill Sternberg, Election Observers Coordinator for SOMET (Solidarity Observer Mission for East Timor)

Polls closed yesterday in East Timor as one of the world’s youngest nations held its first presidential elections since voting for independence 8 years ago. East Timor formally gaining independence from Indonesia in 2002. The US-backed Indonesian occupation of East Timor resulted in the deaths of a third of the island’s population between 1975 and 1999. This presidential election is the first to be administered by East Timor. Turn out for this election is high, with more than half of East Timor’s population registered to vote. Around 200 international observers monitored the polls while about 3,000 international troops patrolled the nation during balloting. Eight candidates were on the ballot including current prime minister and Nobel Laureate Jorge Ramos-Horta. Although official results are not expected to be released until next week, preliminary results have started to emerge. East Timorese election commission officials predict that none of the eight candidates will gain more than half of the vote necessary to win the first round. If official results show that no candidate received an outright majority, a run-off election is scheduled to be held on May 9th. East Timor’s election come after a tumultuous year in which the island nation saw 150,000 refugees flee its borders following instances of violence last May.

For more information, visit www.etan.org.