José Ramos-Horta failed to win enough votes to progress to the 21 April runoff
José Ramos-Horta, the president of Timor-Leste who helped steer the country into independence after campaigning tirelessly for nearly a quarter of a century, has conceded defeat after a poor showing in weekend elections.
The first round of voting passed peacefully, raising the prospects of a withdrawal of the Australian-led mission of about 400 UN peacekeeping troops that was deployed to Timor-Leste in 2006 to quell chaotic unrest.
Francisco Lu Olo Guterres, of the traditionally strong leftist Fretilin party, was leading with 28% of the vote, followed by the former military chief Taur Matan Ruak with 25%. That means Ramos-Horta, with 18%, has no chance of advancing to a 21 April runoff.
"Congratulations to them," the Nobel peace laureate told reporters. "And also to the people who supported me throughout my mandate."
Ramos-Horta promised to hand over power peacefully to the winner on 19 May.
The 62-year-old leader has spent nearly half his life in exile, lobbying governments around the globe to endorse Timor-Leste's independence from brutal Indonesian rule. He and his fellow countryman Bishop Carlos Belo were rewarded for their efforts in 1996 with the Nobel peace prize.
After the new country was born in 2002, Ramos-Horta served first as foreign minister. He then shepherded it through turbulent and often violent times as prime minister and in 2007, became president.
Few question his commitment, noting that even after surviving an assassination attempt at his Dili compound, he returned quickly to work. But many of those who turned out to vote over the weekend said he had failed to follow through on his many and repeated promises to help the "little people".
The country is the poorest in Asia despite its vast oil and gas reserves. Unemployment is very high, as are the number of children suffering from malnutrition.
As he cast his ballot on Saturday, Ramos-Horta told reporters he would "always be a winner".
"If I'm re-elected, I win, I have a wooden cross that I have to carry for the next five years in the service of these great people. If I'm not re-elected, I win my personal freedom."
Timor-Leste's transition to democracy has been a rocky one. Its leaders have battled massive poverty, social unrest and bitter disputes between soldiers and police that in 2006 resulted in widespread looting, arson and gang warfare that left dozens dead and drove 155,000 from their homes.
UN troops, headed by Australia, returned soon after to restore order.
Australia's defence minister, Stephen Smith, was pleased by the success of the weekend polls and said if parliamentary polls planned for June went just as smoothly, discussions could begin about the withdrawal of the 400 international troops.
"Whether the drawdown will start this year, time will tell," he said.