A Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former president of the Southeast Asian nation of Timor-Leste is set to take the helm of the country once again.

Timor-Leste was formerly known as East Timor.

Jose Ramos-Horta defeated incumbent President Francisco Guterres Lu Olo in the presidential runoff held on Tuesday. Ramos-Horta took over 397,000 votes, or roughly 62 percent of those cast, while Lu Olo garnered some 242,000.

The 72-year-old Ramos-Horta was awarded the Peace Prize in 1996. Timor-Leste became independent in 2002, after being under Portuguese and then Indonesian rule for more than 400 years. Ramos-Horta served as its first foreign minister. He also held the posts of prime minister and president.

He is expected to declare victory before noon on Thursday, local time.

An estimated 30 percent of Timor-Leste's population live in poverty.

Ramos-Horta faces the challenge of jump-starting the economy, which has slowed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and pulling the country away from its overreliance on natural resources.

In his election pledge, Ramos-Horta vowed to work for Timor-Leste's membership in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as a means of bringing in investment and shoring up the sluggish economy.