East Timor presidential run-off goes smoothly

Provisional results in East Timor are projecting former army chief Jose Maria de Vasconcelos as the winner in the second round of presidential elections. He was battling Francisco Guterres in Monday’s poll for the largely ceremonial post.

Outgoing president Jose Ramos-Horta, who won the Nobel peace prize for his role in the country's independence struggle from Indonesia, did not make it to the second round.

The final results will be recounted by an independent election commission before being made official by East Timor's High Court.

East Timor’s “second round in the presidential elections went off very smoothly,” said Ameerah Haq, the UN Secretary General's special representative for East Timor. “I visited five polling stations, and I was very impressed to see Timorese men, women, citizens, casting their vote, continuing with their commitment to the democratic principles that have enshrined this nation.”

She said the United Nations is committed to helping strengthen democracy in the young nation.

“We have the parliamentary round coming up in July, and the United Nations confirms its commitment to step side-by-side in ensuring that round goes as smoothly as things have gone [during the presidential election],” she said.

Listen: