Mari Alkatiri gets second shot as East Timor’s prime minister 11 years after first stint
Alkatiri was East Timor’s first post-independence prime minister in 2002-2006
East Timor President Francisco Guterres announced Thursday that Mari Alkatiri, the only candidate nominated for the premiership, is the country’s new prime minister, with a new cabinet line-up to be revealed the following day.
The candidacy of Alkatiri, who was East Timor’s first post-independence prime minister in 2002-2006, was proposed to the president by his leftist Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor, better known as Fretilin, and the smaller Democratic Party.
Fretilin won the country’s legislative election in July but failed to claim the absolute majority required to govern outright, so it set up a coalition with the Democratic Party.
Even so, however, it still fell three short of the necessary 33 seats in the 65-seat legislature to control the unicameral parliament.
But as no other parties set up bigger coalitions or proposed other prime minister candidates, Alkatiri turned out to be the only candidate for the premiership.
