Dili – 5 April 2007 – Speaking in response to recent media stating his intention to stand down in the face of defeat in the April 9 elections, Ramos-Horta insists he will always be there to support the cause of the people.
“What I would say, as I have been saying already countless times throughout this campaign, no matter what happens on April 9th, whether I am elected president or not, the country will win,” said Ramos-Horta. “If I am elected president the country will win. Someone who they know will serve them, and only them, with the best of my ability.”
“If they elect someone else they can rest assured that I will stand behind the newly elected president, no matter whom he or she might be, to make sure that he or she will have all the help needed to stabilise the country and move the country forward.
“My message is that whatever others may do, we must show our maturity, our integrity, humility and honesty in honouring the verdict of the people and work with the new president so that he or she can fulfil the mandate the people entrusted to him or to her, to lead this nation for the next five years.
“I have said again and again that we can win only through the power of our intellect and of our mind through persuasion - we never win through threats, coercion and the use of force. We won our freedom in 99 through the ballot box. We survived for 24 years under Indonesian rule in spite of all the weapons used by Indonesia. So let’s trust more in the power of our ideas and conviction, then in rocks, in machetes and guns. They lead us nowhere, they create only a cycle of hatred, of revenge and violence.
“Again, I call for a day of peace and reflection tomorrow on Good Friday. Let us look back on our history and make the right decisions for our future.”
Ends.
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