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East Timor names former president as prime minister
Sydney Morning Herald - June 19, 2018
The new government will be sworn in by Francisco "Lu-Olo" Guterres, the nation's largely ceremonial President, ending 11 months of gridlock. It follows the inconclusive July 2017 election and the fresh poll on May 10.
Xanana Gusmao, 73, who led the alliance to victory over arch rivals Fretilin, was originally expected to return as prime minister. But he has been named Minister Adviser to Prime Minister" instead, sealing the reconciliation between the two men. Gusmao and Ruak, 43, also known as Jose Maria Vasconcelos, were once brothers-in-arms but fell out during Gusmao's 2012-2015 prime ministership while Ruak was president. Gusmao eventually stepped aside.
Gusmao will also have ongoing carriage of negotiations with energy companies led by Australia's Woodside and US-based ConocoPhillips following the March settlement of a new maritime border with Australia.
Despite the new agreement there is unresolved debate about where the pipeline from the $US50 billion ($68 billion) Greater Sunrise gas fields should land and be processed.
Gusmao is determined to bring it on to East Timor's remote south coast but the energy company claims this is uneconomic and wants the pipeline landing near Darwin. Timor's economy is in nose dive and existing gas reserves are expected to be depleted in 2026.
"It will be interesting to see how the new government combines Gusmao's Strategic Development Plan, which focuses on government spending on major infrastructure projects, [with] the policy of Ruak's party, the People's Liberation Party, [which] focuses on boosting basic development spending on health, agriculture and education," Swinburne University Politics Professor Michael Leach told Fairfax Media.
As well as the PLP, the new government alliance consists of Gusmao's Party for Timorese Reconstruction and martial arts street gang turned political force KHUNTO.
The outgoing government led by Fretilin leader Mari Alkatiri had been unable to pass any legislation.
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