Timor-Leste Former President Praises Cambodia over SEA Games
Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao paid an official visit to Cambodia from May 4 to 7 and attended the Games’ Opening Ceremony on May 5. Photo: Prime Minister Hun Sen's Facebook
- By Meng Seavmey
- May 8, 2023 12:30 PM
PHNOM PENH – East Timor’s former President praised Cambodia for the good work done in hosting the 32nd Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games).
Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao paid an official visit to Cambodia from May 4 to 7 and attended the Games’ Opening Ceremony on May 5.
“It was amazing! I could not even close my mouth from saying ‘wow’,” he said the following day, at a press conference with Cambodian reporters at the Sofitel Phnom Penh Hotel.
Asked whether Timor-Leste had considered hosting the SEA Games in the future, the former president said it is unlikely to happen anytime soon.
“Timor-Leste is not ready to host the SEA Games yet,” he pointed out.
During his three-day visit, Xanana Gusmao met with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen at the Peace Palace.
According to a May 6 Facebook post on the PM’s official page, the former state man congratulated Cambodia on hosting the SEA Games and the 12th ASEAN Para Games for the first time.
He said it was the first time he witnessed such a historical moment.
After being involved in resistance and pro-independence activities for more than two decades, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao became East Timor’s first elected president in 2002, following the end of the Indonesian occupation three years prior. He remained in office until 2007 and was nominated Prime Minister from 2007 to 2015.
Since 2016, he holds the position of Chief Negotiator for the Council for the Final Delimitation of Maritime Boundaries, whose role is to establish final maritime boundaries with neighboring countries Australia and Indonesia.
