[5] At an extraordinary conference of Fretilin in Sydney, Australia in 1998, Guterres was named general coordinator of the Council of Armed Resistance.

[5] However, some members of Fretilin blamed him for the 2006 East Timorese crisis and instead supported Prime Minister José Ramos-Horta, who was running as an independent candidate.

[12] In the 2017 presidential election, Guterres ran again as the Fretilin candidate, with the support of former prime minister Xanana Gusmão and his party, National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT).

In 2020, Guterres planned to resign and former president Xanana Gusmão would take office, however, he reversed his decision to tackle the Coronavirus Pandemic.

[16] He has generally received praise for his handling of the pandemic, with the number of COVID cases in the country significantly dropping after the campaign was launched.