Welcome to Taur Matan Ruak Online

The head of East Timor's armed forces, Major-General Taur Matan Ruak, says he has resigned and may run for the presidency at next year's elections. The veteran of East Timor's resistance struggle against Indonesia's occupation said that after three decades in the military he wanted to return to civilian life.

''Yesterday I handed my resignation letter to the President [Jose Ramos-Horta] and his excellency the Prime Minister [Xanana Gusmao],'' Major-General Ruak said in Dili yesterday.

DILI, KOMPAS.com - Panglima militer Timor Leste, Taur Matan Ruak, mengundurkan diri dari jabatannya, Jumat (2/9/2011), kata seorang pejabat senior, menjelang pemilihan presiden tahun depan di mana ia diduga kuat akan ikut mencalonkan diri.

Wakil Perdana Menteri Jose Luis Guterres mengatakan, Mayjen Ruak mengajukan surat pengunduran diri sebagai panglima angkatan bersenjata negara itu kepada kabinet, yang bersidang di ibu kota Dili. "Surat itu telah diterima pemerintah," katanya tanpa menjelaskan lebih jauh mengenai alasan-alasan Ruak mundur.

Taur Matan Ruak Xefe Estadu Maior das Falintil
Reliable Tempo Semanal souces said that the Chief of the East Timorese Defence Force, FALINTIL-FDTL has strongly indicated in public and in private that it is his intention to soon resign from the defence force because he intends to run in the 2012 Presidential election.

Ruak’s most serious competition on the Presidential elections likely includes FRETILIN’s President Fransisco “Lu Olo” Guterres, current President Jose Ramos-Horta, and the President of the National Parliament Fernando Lasama. Some indications include that Deputy Prime Minister Jose Luis Guterres will also candidate himself.