President José Manuel Ramos-Horta, is the second President of East Timor since independence from Indonesia, taking office on 20 May 2007. He is a co-recipient of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize for his work towards a just and peaceful solution to the conflict in East Timor. He served as Prime Minister, from 2006 until his inauguration as President after winning the 2007 East Timorese presidential election. He was appointed Foreign Minister in the "Democratic Republic of East Timor" government proclaimed by the pro-independence parties in November 1975. When appointed minister, Ramos-Horta was only 25 years old. As a founder and former member of the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor, Ramos-Horta served as the exiled spokesman for the East Timorese resistance during the years of the Indonesian occupation of East Timor (1975 to 1999).