East Timor’s independence hero Xanana Gusmao returns to power as prime minister

By GANTRY MEILANA
Associated Press

DILI, East Timor (AP) — Former East Timor independence fighter Xanana Gusmao has been sworn in as prime minister of Asia’s youngest country after his party won the parliamentary election in May. Crowds cheered as the former guerrilla leader traveled by motorcade to the presidential palace in Dili, the capital, where he and his members of Cabinet were sworn into office by President Jose Ramos-Horta, his fellow independence fighter during Indonesia’s occupation. The new government is a coalition between Gusmao’s National Congress of the Reconstruction of East Timor, known as CNRT, and the Democratic Party. Gusmao faces an uphill battle in tackling economic challenges as nearly 42% of the country’s estimated 1.5 million people live below the poverty line.