The preliminary result of the presidential election in Timor-Leste is that no candidate got over 50% of the votes, and by that, there will be a second round of voting on the 8th of May. The two who in all likelyhood will compete in the finals are prime minister José Ramos-Horta and Parliament chief Francisco “Lu’olo” Guterres.

Although the official results aren’t out yet, five of the eight candidates have called for a re-count of the votes. The election body has declined, saying that a re-count won’t show any significant changes, but will comply under a court order. The election body has also called for talks with the candidates. Due to “bad weather and an insufficient number of polling stations”, a whopping 150′000 people did not vote (of the approx half a million who were entitled to).

The election period has been mostly calm. There is a peaceful candlelight vigil at the Mary statue, about 1 km east from the Government palace. I do hope it remains peaceful.