President of East Timor

President of East Timor
President of East Timor
Portuguese: Presidente da República; Tetum: Prezidente Republika
	Coat of arms of East Timor
	Flag of East Timor
	Incumbent; Francisco Guterres; since 20 May 2017
Style	His Excellency
Status	Head of State
Residence	Nicolau Lobato Presidential Palace
Seat	Dili
Appointer	Direct election
Term length	Five years; Renewable once
Constituting instrument	Constitution of East Timor
Precursor	Governor of East Timor
Formation	28 November 1975; 20 May 2002
First holder	Francisco Xavier do Amaral; Xanana Gusmão
Salary	30,000 USD annually

The president of East Timor, officially the President of the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste (Portuguese: Presidente da República Democrática de Timor-Leste, Tetum: Prezidente Republika Demokratika Timor-Leste), is the head of state in East Timor, elected by popular vote for a five-year term.

The president is ex officio head of the East Timorese Council of State. The executive powers of the president are limited. The President is able to veto legislation. Following elections, the president usually appoints as the prime minister, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition. As head of government the prime minister presides over the cabinet.

Key[]

Political parties

Fretilin
National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT)
Democratic Party (PD)

Other factions

Independent

Symbols

† Assassinated

Presidents of East Timor during War for Independence[]

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Elected	Term of office			Political party	Alliance
No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Elected	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Political party	Alliance
1		Francisco Xavier do Amaral (1939–2012)	—	28 November 1975	7 December 1975	9 days	Fretilin	Marxist
2		Nicolau dos Reis Lobato (1946–1978)	—	7 December 1975	31 December 1978†^[a]	3 years, 24 days	Fretilin	Marxist

Presidents of the Democratic Republic of East Timor[]

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Elected	Term of office			Political party
No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Elected	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Political party
1		Xanana Gusmão (born 1946)	2002	20 May 2002	20 May 2007	5 years	Independent
2		José Ramos-Horta (born 1949)^[b]	2007	20 May 2007	20 May 2012	5 years	Independent
–		Vicente Guterres (born 1956) Ad interim^[c]	—	11 February 2008	13 February 2008	2 days	CNRT
–		Fernando de Araújo (1962–2015) Ad interim^[c]	—	13 February 2008	17 April 2008	64 days	PD
3		Taur Matan Ruak (born 1956)	2012	20 May 2012	20 May 2017	5 years	Independent
4		Francisco Guterres (born 1954)	2017	20 May 2017	Incumbent (Term ends on 20 May 2022)	4 years, 277 days	Fretilin

Notes[]

^ Killed by the special forces of the Indonesian military.
^ Incapacitated from 11 February to 17 April 2008.
^ ^a ^b Served as President during the 2008 assassination attempts.

Latest election[]


Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Francisco Guterres	Fretilin	295,048	57.08
	António da Conceição	Democratic Party	167,794	32.46
	José Luís Guterres	Frenti-Mudança	13,513	2.61
	José Neves	Independent	11,663	2.26
	Luís Alves Tilman	Independent	11,125	2.15
	Antonio Maher Lopes	Socialist Party of Timor	9,102	1.76
	Ángela Freitas	Timorese Workers' Party	4,353	0.84
	Amorim Vieira	Independent	4,283	0.83
Total			516,881	100.00

Valid votes			516,881	97.74
Invalid/blank votes			11,932	2.26
Total votes			528,813	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			743,150	71.16
Source: CNE

References[]

[3] Killed by the special forces of the Indonesian military.

[4] Incapacitated from 11 February to 17 April 2008.

[acting2-5] Served as President during the 2008 assassination attempts.

[1] "Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste", Section 75.3: "The President of the Republic's term of office may be renewed only once."

[mj.gov.tl-2] "REPÚBLICA DEMOCRÁTICA DE TIMOR-LESTE - Jornal da República". www.mj.gov.tl.

[1]

[2]

[a]

[b]

[c]

v t Leaders of Southeast Asian countries
Heads of state	Brunei (Monarch) Cambodia (Monarch) East Timor (President) Indonesia (President) (list) Laos (President) Malaysia (Monarch) Myanmar (President) (list) Philippines (President) (list) Singapore (President) Thailand (Monarch) (list) Vietnam (President) (list)
Heads of government	Brunei Cambodia (list) East Timor Indonesia (list) Laos Malaysia Myanmar (list) Philippines (list) Singapore Thailand (list) Vietnam (list)
Supreme leaders	Laos Myanmar Vietnam
Defunct heads of state and government	Burma (Monarch) Dutch East Indies (Governor-General) Indonesia (Prime Minister) Laos (Monarch) Myanmar (State Counsellor) Philippines (Governor-General) (Prime Minister) Vietnam (Monarch) South Vietnam (leaders)
ASEAN