Ramos-Horta heading for landslide in East Timor election

Nobel Peace Prize winner Jose Ramos-Horta was heading for a landslide victory today in East Timor’s presidential elections, according to figures released by the poll commission.

Commission spokeswoman Maria Sarmento said Ramos-Horta had won about 73% of the votes in yesterday’s polls, with almost 90% of the votes counted.

Authorities earlier estimated that about 80% of the 524,000 registered voters had cast ballots.

Francisco “Lu-Olo” Guterres, the head of the country’s largest party, Fretilin, was the only other candidate in the election.