In 2002 East Timor became an independent state following a long conflict with Indonesia. At independence, East Timor adopted a semi-presidential form of government. This book examines the politics and impact of the semi-presidentialism on East Timor's democracy from 2002-2012, and analyses whether semi¿presidentialism encourages power sharing between competing forces, or whether it provokes a power struggle that threatens democratic stability? It is of interest to researchers in the fields of Political Science, Conflict Resolution and Asian Studies, in particular Southeast Asian Politics.