![](https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fcms-image-bucket-production-ap-northeast-1-a7d2.s3.ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com%2Fimages%2F2%2F3%2F9%2F3%2F39513932-1-eng-GB%2Feasttimor.jpg?width=700&fit=cover&gravity=faces&dpr=2&quality=medium&source=nar-cms)
JAKARTA/PERTH -- East Timor will go to the polls on Saturday to choose a new president out of 16 candidates, the most ever competing for the future of the resource-rich country, with a large number of female hopefuls and increased representation from rural and working-class backgrounds.
Saturday's presidential election will be the country's fifth since independence in 2002. The former Portuguese colony declared independence in 1975 but was annexed by Indonesia, led by then-President Suharto whose dictatorship collapsed in 1998.