President of East Timor

President of the
Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste
President of the; Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste
Presidente da República (Portuguese); Prezidente Republika (Tetum)
	Coat of arms of East Timor
	Incumbent; José Ramos-Horta; since 20 May 2022
Style	His Excellency
Status	Head of state
Residence	Nicolau Lobato Presidential Palace
Seat	Dili
Appointer	Direct election
Term length	Five years, renewable once, either consecutively or non-consecutively
Constituting instrument	Constitution of East Timor
Precursor	Governor of East Timor
Formation	28 November 1975; 48 years ago (Proclamation of Independence day); 20 May 2002; 22 years ago (East Timor independence);
First holder	Francisco Xavier do Amaral; Xanana Gusmão;
Abolished	17 July 1976; 48 years ago (Indonesian invasion of East Timor)
Deputy	President of the National Parliament
Salary	US$30,000 annually

The President of the Democratic Republic of East Timor (Portuguese: Presidente da República Democrática de Timor-Leste; Tetum: Prezidente Republika Demokratika Timor-Leste) is the head of state of the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste. The executive powers of the President of the republic are limited however, the President is also the ex officio head of the Council of State, able to veto legislation and is the supreme commander of the Timor Leste Defence Force.

List of presidents of East Timor

Political parties

Fretilin

National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT)

Democratic Party (PD)

Other factions

Independent

Symbols

† Assassinated

Presidents of East Timor during the War for Independence

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		Francisco Xavier do Amaral (1939–2012)	—	28 November 1975	7 December 1975	9 days	Fretilin
2		Nicolau dos Reis Lobato (1946–1978)	—	7 December 1975	31 December 1978†^[a]	3 years, 24 days	Fretilin

Presidents of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste

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
3		Xanana Gusmão (born 1946)	2002	20 May 2002	20 May 2007	5 years	Independent
4		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
5		Taur Matan Ruak (born 1956)	2012	20 May 2012	20 May 2017	5 years	Independent
6		Francisco Guterres (born 1954)	2017	20 May 2017	20 May 2022	5 years	Fretilin
7		José Ramos-Horta (born 1949)	2022	20 May 2022	Incumbent	2 years, 186 days	CNRT

Latest election

The second round of the elections was held on 19 April between José Ramos-Horta, a former president, and the incumbent Francisco Guterres. In the runoff Ramos-Horta prevailed with 62% of the vote.^[3]


Candidate		Party	First round		Second round
Candidate		Party	Votes	%	Votes	%
	José Ramos-Horta	National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction	303,477	46.56	398,028	62.10
	Francisco Guterres	Fretilin	144,282	22.13	242,939	37.90
	Armanda Berta dos Santos	Kmanek Haburas Unidade Nasional Timor Oan	56,690	8.70
	Lere Anan Timur	Independent	49,314	7.57
	Mariano Sabino Lopes	Democratic Party	47,334	7.26
	Anacleto Bento Ferreira	Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste Party	13,205	2.03
	Martinho Germano da Silva Gusmão	United Party for Development and Democracy	8,598	1.32
	Hermes da Rosa Correia Barros	Independent	8,030	1.23
	Milena Pires	Independent	5,430	0.83
	Isabel da Costa Ferreira	Independent	4,219	0.65
	Felizberto Araújo Duarte	Independent	2,709	0.42
	Constâncio da Conceção Pinto	Independent	2,520	0.39
	Rogerio Lobato	Independent	2,058	0.32
	Virgílio da Silva Guterres	Independent	1,720	0.26
	Antero Benedito Silva	Independent	1,562	0.24
	Ángela Freitas	Independent	711	0.11
Total			651,859	100.00	640,967	100.00

Valid votes			651,859	98.16	640,967	99.16
Invalid/blank votes			12,247	1.84	5,422	0.84
Total votes			664,106	100.00	646,389	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			859,613	77.26	859,925	75.17
Source: National Election Commission^[4]^[5]

Timeline

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.

References

^ "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."
^ "REPÚBLICA DEMOCRÁTICA DE TIMOR-LESTE - Jornal da República". www.mj.gov.tl.
^ "Ramos-Horta wins Timor-Leste presidential election". The Star. 20 April 2022. p. 1. Archived from the original on 21 April 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
^ "Apuramento Eleisaun Presidente Repúblika 2022 (1st round)". Archived from the original on 15 April 2022.
^ "Apuramento Eleisaun Presidente Repúblika 2022 (2nd round)". Archived from the original on 6 June 2022.

[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.

[6] "Ramos-Horta wins Timor-Leste presidential election". The Star. 20 April 2022. p. 1. Archived from the original on 21 April 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2022.

[7] "Apuramento Eleisaun Presidente Repúblika 2022 (1st round)". Archived from the original on 15 April 2022.

[8] "Apuramento Eleisaun Presidente Repúblika 2022 (2nd round)". Archived from the original on 6 June 2022.

[1]

[2]

[a]

[b]

[c]

[3]

[4]

[5]

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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)
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President of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste
Presidente da República (Portuguese) Prezidente Republika (Tetum)
Coat of arms of East Timor
Incumbent José Ramos-Horta since 20 May 2022
Style	His Excellency
Status	Head of state
Residence	Nicolau Lobato Presidential Palace
Seat	Dili
Appointer	Direct election
Term length	Five years, renewable once, either consecutively or non-consecutively^[1]
Constituting instrument	Constitution of East Timor
Precursor	Governor of East Timor
Formation	28 November 1975; 48 years ago (1975-11-28) (Proclamation of Independence day) 20 May 2002; 22 years ago (2002-05-20) (East Timor independence)
First holder	Francisco Xavier do Amaral Xanana Gusmão
Abolished	17 July 1976; 48 years ago (1976-07-17) (Indonesian invasion of East Timor)
Deputy	President of the National Parliament
Salary	US$30,000 annually^[2]

v t e Presidents of East Timor
Francisco Xavier do Amaral Nicolau dos Reis Lobato* Xanana Gusmão José Ramos-Horta Vicente Guterres Fernando de Araújo José Ramos-Horta Taur Matan Ruak Francisco Guterres José Ramos-Horta
* Acting • Italics indicate acting presidents during the 2008 assassination attempts