DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF EAST TIMOR

• Official name: Republica Democratica de Timor-Leste / Republika Demokratika Timor Lorosa'e (Democratic Republic of East Timor)
• Location: South-East Asia
• International organisations: The United Nations
• Borders: Indonesia
• Coastline: Timor Sea
• Land area: 15,007 Km2
• Population: 1,100,000 (estimate)
• Annual GDP (PPP) per capita: US$2,400 (2009 CIA estimate). World ranking: 146
• Ethnicity: Almost the whole population identify as Timorese. There is a small Chinese minority.
• Languages: Portuguese and Tetum are official languages. The great majority speak Tetum or related indigenous languages as their first language. Those educated before 1975 speak Portuguese as their second language, those educated since 1975 use Bahasa Indonesia. Portuguese is generally the language of government and business, though English is increasingly common.
• Religion: Catholic Christian 90%, Sunni Moslem 5%
• Form of government: Parliamentary democratic republic. East Timor is divided into 13 districts.
• Dili
• Constitution: The Constitution of the Democratic Republic of East Timor came into effect on 20 May 2002. (According to the Constitution it came into effect on 28 November 1975, the date of East Timor's first declaration of independence.)
• Head of state: The President, elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year term. The President's functions are largely ceremonial.
• Head of government: The Prime Minister, appointed by the President. The Prime Minister is the leader of the largest party in the legislature and is accountable to it.
• Legislature: East Timor has a unicameral legislature, the National Parliament (Parlamento Nacional), which has 88 members elected for five-year terms. 75 members are elected on a national basis by proportional representation, and one member is elected from each of East Timor's 13 districts.
• Electoral authority: The Independent Election Commission of East Timor (website offline) administers national elections.
• Freedom House 2009 rating: Political Rights 3, Civil Liberties 4

Political history

East Timor was a Portuguese colony from the 15th century until 1975, when the Portuguese announced their intention to depart. In November 1975 a radical Timorese party, Fretilin, seized power and declared the Democratic Republic of East Timor. Civil war broke out, and Indonesia used this as a pretext to invade and annex the territory. East Timor remained an Indonesian province until 1999, though sporadic guerilla resistance continued. The annexation was not recognised by the United Nations.

In August 1999 Indonesian President J B Habibie allowed a referendum in East Timor, in which the people voted overwhelmingly for independence. The Indonesian army and its Timorese militia allies then ran amok, destroying most of the territory and killing thousands of people. Following United Nations armed intervention led by Australia, the Indonesians withdrew. The territory was placed under United Nations administration, and full independence was attained in May 2002.

The Revolutionary Front of Independent East Timor (Fretilin), which led the resistance to Indonesian rule, won a sweeping victory in the 2001 legislative elections. Since 1975 Fretilin has abandoned its Marxist ideology but is still a radical party and intolerant of the opposition, whom it sees as Indonesian collaborators.

Fretilin's indifferent performance in government led to it losing ground at the 2007 elections, although it is still the largest party in the National Parliament, and to the defeat of its candidate Francisco Guterres at the presidential elections. Jose Ramos-Horta, a non-party figure who was Prime Minister in 2006-07, was elected President by a wide margin. The former president, Xanana Gusmao, then became Prime Minister. His party, the National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction, is the second-largest in the Parliament and is supported by minor parties.

Freedom House's 2009 report on East Timor says: "East Timor is an electoral democracy. The directly elected president is a largely symbolic figure, with formal powers limited to the right to veto legislation and make certain appointments. In keeping with the five-year terms stipulated in the constitution, elections for the presidency and the unicameral Parliament were held in 2007, marking the country's first direct legislative elections since the Fretilin-dominated Constituent Assembly became the Parliament after writing the charter in 2002. The elections were generally deemed free and fair... Frustration with corruption and nepotism was one reason for Fretilin's relatively poor showing in the 2007 elections; accusations of graft have continued under the [current] government. [East Timor] was ranked 145 out of 180 countries surveyed in Transparency International's 2008 Corruption Perceptions Index... The free flow of information in East Timor is hampered primarily due to shortages of infrastructure and resources... Freedoms of association and assembly are constitutionally guaranteed, yet the 2004 Law on Freedom, Assembly, and Demonstration regulates political gatherings and prohibits demonstrations aimed at "questioning constitutional order" or disparaging the reputations of the head of state and other government officials... The country suffers broadly from weak rule of law, a prevailing culture of impunity, and inadequate security forces. The legal system is fragile, with thousands of cases backlogged. Due process rights are often restricted or denied, largely because of a lack of resources and personnel."

Updated February 2010