With the Presidential election now complete in East Timor, attention is now centered on the more crucial parliamentary election that is scheduled for 30 June.
The East Timor National Elections Commission (CNE) has issued the official list of parties that are registered to contest seats in the national parliament.
No less than 14 parties will vie for seats in the young nation's legislature.
Along with the established parties such as Fretilin, the Democratic Party, the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT) and the Social Democratic Party, a plethora of new parties will make their debut on the Timorese political stage.
The recently-formed new parties include the Republican Party, headed by intellectual Joao Saldhana from the economic think-tank Timor Institute of Development Studies and the National Congress of Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT) led by resistance hero Xanana Gusmao who will step down as President on 20 May to make way for his predecessor, Jose Ramos Horta, after a landslide victory in the recent presidential poll.
CNRT has promised sweeping reforms of all aspects of governance and is expected to gain wide support from the electorate. The party has already held discussions with the opposition parties with a view to forming an alliance in the national parliament to oust Fretilin control of the legislature.
