Jakarta - East Timor's de facto parliament decided yesterday to delay until next week the ratification of Nobel peace laureate Mr Jose Ramos-Horta as its president, a United Nations official in Dili said.
"They voted to have the election for the new speaker on Monday and Ramos-Horta was not in town . . . They want the new member to be present when the election takes place," Ms Barbara Reis of the UN transitional authority in East Timor said.
Mr Ramos-Horta was appointed on Saturday by Mr Sergio Vieira de Mello, head of the UN transitional authority in East Timor, to replace independence leader Mr Xanana Gusmao, who quit last week over internal squabbling which he said was hampering the territory's push for independence.