Tempotimor (Dili) - The actions of US president Donald Trump and the ‘subsequent’ violence ‘thoroughly discredit the US as a global leader of democracy,’ said Timor-Leste’s former president and Nobel Peace Prize winner José Ramos-Horta to www.tempotiomr.com.
Ramos-Horta is ‘absolutely shocked by the violent developments in Washington,’ where on Wednesday rioters stormed and occupied the US Capitol where Congress was holding a ceremonial counting session that would confirm that Joe Biden had won the presidential election last November, with current president Trump losing the vote.
The pro-Trump protesters were incited by the US president, who falsely claims that the elections were rigged, and wanted to prevent that Biden’s victory would be declared.
The riots left four people dead. Trump has the ‘personal, direct responsibility’ in ‘fomenting divisions’ during his presidency, ‘escalating into the extreme violence and fatalities in the US Congress,’ stated Ramos-Horta, who is currently chairman of the World Movement for Democracy which has its headquarter in Washington.
‘The last four years of Trump administration have thoroughly undermined US credibility as a beacon of democracy. It will take many years of a very different leadership to rebuild respect and trust,’ Ramos-Horta said.