MEDIA RELEASE: FRETILIN, opposition parties and some AMP MPs join forces to increase budget allocation for poverty stricken veterans

FRENTE REVOLUCIONÁRIA DO TIMOR-LESTE INDEPENDENTE

FRETILIN

Media Release

August 18, 2008

FRETILIN, opposition parties and some AMP MPs join forces to increase budget allocation for poverty stricken veterans

FRETILIN, KOTA-PPT, PUN, ASDT and other AMP MPs joined forces to amend the budget presented by the Gusmao de facto Government, to immediately start paying the liberation war veterans’ pensions, at a cost of US$20 million. “Our proposal succeeded despite strong opposition by de facto Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao and Finance Minister Emilia Pires to the very end,” said Josefa Soares Pereira, FRETILIN Parliamentary Party Secretary and MP.

Soares and FRETILIN MP Osorio Florindo put forward the proposal during the budget debate which ended on 31 July 2008, in the Timor-Leste National Parliament, because the government could not explain why veterans were going to be made to wait a further six months or more for payment of their much needed pensions.

“It seemed to us unjust and unnecessary for the government to continue to deny these impoverished veterans their pensions, when they have been quite prepared to make a priority of special payments to deserters from the defence force. These veterans in contrast sacrificed themselves and their families so that we can have the freedom and sovereign nation we have today,” she said.

In 2006 the FRETILIN dominated parliament passed a law establishing the criteria and mechanism to determine payment of pensions to veterans and their families, but the collection and verification of data as to who is a veteran was the task of three commissions established since 2002 under the auspices of then president Xanana Gusmao. The then President continued to insist that there was insufficient verification for the database compiled by the commissions to be used as the basis for commencing payment of pensions to veterans.

“It was a source of frustration for us who have tried to promote the cause of the veterans, that there was this constant proposition coming from the then president, now de facto Prime Minister, that the database was not ready. Yet in late 2006 and in the first half of 2007, before the parliamentary elections it was good enough to use the database to award around 17,000 medals of honor to veterans and their survivors. This issue was politicized by political figures in the campaign, including Mr Gusmao, and FRETILIN was painted as neglectful and mean for not paying the veterans,” added Soares.

“But when it comes to an outrageously high spending budget on largesse such as luxury cars for MPs, overseas travel for Ministers and others in government, rehabilitation of homes for ministers and others, they forget about the veterans and keep saying the database needs to be fixed. We don’t accept that anymore and are happy that the majority of the parliament agreed with us. Now it is a matter for the government to cut out the fat it has for travel, entertainment and other luxuries to make sure the veterans are paid,” Soares stressed.

To date only 238 or so veterans have received any payments whatsoever, with a tens of thousands still awaiting any payment, whilst living in extreme poverty. The FRETILIN government’s attempts to pay the veterans in the time prior to the elections in 2007 were also met with a dead end response from the veterans commission, which was under the control of Mr Gusmao.

“We do not want any more excuses from Mr Gusmao and Mr Virgilio Simith, the Secretary of State who is the chair of the veterans commissions. They have had five years to come up with the numbers for the veterans. They have done a poor job and we need to have an investigation into the numerous complaints that have been made by both veterans and development partners who gave millions of dollars towards the process. Mr Gusmao and Mr Simith have to be held responsible.

“We insist on this, but most of all, it’s the Veterans, including MPs who are veterans and supported our proposal for amendment, who spoke out in these terms. It’s time to act. The government must act or be held further responsible for the neglect of the veterans, for which Mr Gusmao and his appointees must carry their share of the responsibility,” Soares said in closing.

The budget which was rammed through by the AMP de facto government is currently the subject of a constitutional appeal by FRETILIN, and is awaiting promulgation by President Jose Ramos-Horta who has held back from proclaiming it subject to the court’s decision. FRETILIN MPs believe that one of the few areas warranting a revision was in the case of the additional US$20 million, which can be accommodated in the revised budget, by cutting extravagant and wasteful items, and without any need to withdraw in excess of the sustainable income set by the Petroleum Fund Law rules.

For more info, contact Jose Teixeira: +61 438 114 960 (Australia), +670 728 7080 (Dili, Timor-Leste)

FRETILIN requests President Ramos-Horta to initiate investigation

FRENTE REVOLUCIONÁRIA DO TIMOR-LESTE INDEPENDENTE

FRETILIN

Media Release

10 August 2008

FRETILIN requests President Ramos-Horta to initiate investigation into unintended publication of rectifying budget

The President of Timor-Leste’s largest and historic party FRETILIN, Francisco Guterres “Lu Olo”, today called upon President Dr José Ramos-Horta to order an investigation into why the Revised Budget Law (also known as the rectifying budget) was sent by his office to the parliament, and then subsequently published in the official gazette, thereby bringing it into law, against the President’s declared intentions.

A Public Communiqué issued from the President's Office on the 6th of August 2008, when the President was already overseas stated, that prior to his departure the President delivered a speech to the nation, in which he informed the nation that he would await the decision of the Court of Appeal regarding a request for a ruling as to the constitutionality of the rectifying budget, before making a decision on whether or not to promulgate it.

The Communiqué added that: “The President of the Republic left very clear instructions to his office to send the rectifying budget for publication only if the decision of the Court of Appeal declared that the law was in conformity with all the requirements of the constitution.”

Lu Olo said, “The President’s own words, televised to the nation on the 5th of August 2008, and confirmed by the President’s Office Communiqué on the 6th of August, the following day, were that he left clear instructions that the rectifying budget was not to be sent for publication with the official gazette.

“It was clear that this is what he had in mind when he spoke to the people. We do not believe for one moment the President would have spoken those words whilst intending to do the exact opposite. Despite this manifest intent, others in his office took actions contrary to his clear instructions and sent it on for official publication.”

According to Lu Olo this is a very serious situation for FRETILIN, for the nation’s democratic institutions and the Timorese people. He added that FRETILIN did not blame the President, because it believed he left clear and explicit instructions with his office before leaving on his overseas trip.

“However, we do not have confidence in others who work in the Office of the President of the Republic. We have grave reservations about their loyalty to the President and their political impartiality to be working in such a high office,” Lu Olo said.

“We are very lucky that these suspect actions are such that may be fixed with the good will and cooperation of other institutions of our state. But we have to ask, what if it involved something more serious, something that could not be so easily reversed or rectified, such as a declaration of stage of siege or a declaration to dissolve parliament? Then what? The President had done all he could to ensure his intent was clear and that his actions would not impact negatively upon the nation, but even this could not safeguard a serious error from occurring.

“We cannot simply leave this matter as it is. It is important for us that state institutions know the truth of what actually happened. We have to know clearly whether this was the result of human error or whether there was some more deliberate act or omission to pervert the expressed will and intent of the President, to usurp his duties and powers. An in-depth investigation must occur into this matter and FRETILIN give its full support to the President in initiating an appropriate legal investigation,” Lu Olo added.

Lu Olo also emphasized that “this was not just a matter of an administrative issue in the President’s Office, but a matter of great importance to the government, the parliament, political parties and the people, who need to have confidence that the highest office in the land is functioning legally and constitutionally, not to mention with administrative efficiency, whoever the President is or will be.”

For more info, contact Jose Teixeira: +61 438 114 960 (Australia), +670 728 7080 (Dili, Timor-Leste)

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komunikadu imprensa: FRETILIN husu Presidenti Republika ordena investigasaun Gabineti Presidensia Republika nian kona ba falansu promulgasaun Orsamentu Retifikativu

FRENTE REVOLUCIONÁRIA DO TIMOR-LESTE INDEPENDENTE
FRETILIN

10 Agostu 2008
Komunikadu imprensa

FRETILIN husu Presidenti Republika ordena investigasaun Gabineti
Presidensia Republika nian kona ba falansu promulgasaun Orsamentu
Retifikativu

FRETILIN husu ohin ba Prezidenti Republika Dr. Jose-Ramos Horta halao
investigasaun klean ida ba insidenti neebe mosu iha semana liu ba iha
Gabeneti Presidensia Republika nian bainhira Xefe Gabineti haruka Lei
Orsamentu Retifikativu ba Parlamentu Nasional, no depois resulta iha
publikasaun maske kontra Prezidenti Republika nia intensaun klaru,
deklara Prezidenti partidu FRETILIN nian, Francisco Guterres "LuOlo"
iha Dili ohin.

Tuir Komunikadu neebe sai husi Prezidensia Republika iha loron 6
Agostu 2008: "Molok nia sai ba liur, nia halo deklarasaun ba nasaun,
tuir neebe nia dehan katak nia sei hein to'o desiziaun husi Tribunal
Rekursu kona ba rekursu ida neebe tama kona ba konstitusionalidade Lei
Orsamentu Retifikativu, molok nia halo desizaun ikus liu atu pormulga
ka lae lei ida nee."

Prezidenti aumenta mos ida nee iha deklarasaun neebe temik katak:
"Prezidenti Republika husik hela orientasaun klaru ba nia gabineti atu
labele haruka lei ba publikasaun molok desizaun sai husi Tribunal
Rekursu katak lei cumpri ho normas konstituisaun nian tomak."

"Maske Prezidenti nia liafuan, neebe fo sai iha deklarasaun iha
televisaun, no konfirmado tuir mai iha komunikadu ofisial iha loron 6
Agostu, Prezidenti deklara katak nia fo 'orientasaun klaru' atu nia
gabineti labele haruka lei nee ba publikasaun. Nia hatudu mos nia
intensaun bainhira nia koalian ba Povo tomak iha Televisaun. Ami la
fiar nia bele koalian buat ida loron ida, no halo buat seluk fali.
Maibe tuir mai, ita hotu hare katak ema seluk halo fali kontra nia
hakarak, ema ruma iha nia gabineti haruka fali lei nee ba publikasaun.
Nee assuntu ida neebe seriu ba nasaun, seriu ba orgaun soberania
seluk hotu, no Povo Timor-Leste tomak. Ami la foo sala ida ba
Prezidenti, tamba ami fiar nia liafuan. Maibe ami duvida makas ba ema
seluk neebe servisu iha nia gabineti. Ami duvida sira nia intensaun
plitika no imparsialidade atu halau servisu iha gabineti aas liu
hanesan nee," dehan LuOlo.

"Sorte hahalok sala nee buat ida neebe bele hadiak hela ho vontade
diak husi orgaun soberania hotu. Maibe hau husu deit, sei envolve
karik buat seluk neebe labele hadiak fasil hanesan nee? Hanesan
deklarasaun estadu de sitiu ka disolusaun parlamentu por ezemplu?
Entaun oin sa? Sorte ida nee laos deklarasaun funu ida neebe
consekuensia todan liu ba nasaun. Prezidenti halo buat hotu hotu
neebe nia bele atu labele iha impaktu negative ba ita nia rain no
Povo, maibe iha falansu seriu fali tamba hahalok iha nia gabineti
laran."

"Ita abele husik deit hanesa nee. Ita presiza buka hetan lialos. Ita
presiza hatene momos sei ida nee falansu humanu duni ka buat seluk,
hanesan manipulasaun ruma ba Prezidenti nia hakarak, nia dever. Tamba
nee presiza investigasaun klean. FRETILIN apoia Prezidenti republika
total atu halau investigasaun ida neebe seriu no transparent, tanba
kredibilidade gabineti Presidenti republika nian aban bairua iha
duvida hela iha ema barak nia Hanoin sei ita la hetan lialos," LuOlo
taka.

Favor ida, kontaktu: Jose Reis +670 734 1505 (Dili)

FRENTE REVOLUCIONÁRIA DO TIMOR-LESTE INDEPENDENTE

FRETILIN

Media release
10 August 2008

FRETILIN requests President Ramos-Horta to initiate investigation into
unintended publication of rectifying budget

The President of Timor-Leste's largest and historic party FRETILIN,
Francisco Guterres "Lu Olo" today called upon President Dr. José
Ramos-Horta to order an investigation into why the Revised Budget Law
(also known as the rectifying budget) was sent by his office to the
parliament, and then subsequently published in the official gazette,
thereby bringing it into law, against the President's declared
intentions.

A Public Communiqué issued from the President's Office on the 6th of
August 2008, when the President was already overseas stated, that
prior to his departure the President delivered a speech to the nation,
in which he informed the nation that he would await the decision of
the Court of Appeal regarding a request for a ruling as to the
constitutionality of the rectifying budget, before making a decision
on whether or not to promulgate it.

The Communiqué added that: "The President of the Republic left very
clear instructions to his office to send the rectifying budget for
publication only if the decision of the Court of Appeal declared that
the law was in conformity with all the requirements of the
constitution."

Lu Olo said, "The President's own words, televised to the nation on
the 5th of August 2008, and confirmed by the President's Office
Communiqué on the 6th of August, the following day, were that he left
clear instructions that the rectifying budget was not to be sent for
publication with the official gazette.

"It was clear that this is what he had in mind when he spoke to the
people. We do not believe for one moment the President would have
spoken those words whilst intending to do the exact opposite. Despite
this manifest intent, others in his office took actions contrary to
his clear instructions and sent it on for official publication.

According to Lu Olo this is a very serious situation for FRETILIN, for
the nation's democratic institutions and the Timorese people. He added
that FRETILIN did not blame the President, because it believed he left
clear and explicit instructions with his office before leaving on his
overseas trip.

"However, we do not have confidence in others who work in the Office
of the President of the Republic. We have grave reservations about
their loyalty to the President and their political impartiality to be
working in such a high office," Lu Olo said.

"We are very lucky that these suspect actions are such that may be
fixed with the good will and cooperation of other institutions of our
state. But we have to ask, what if it involved something more
serious, something that could not be so easily reversed or rectified,
such as a declaration of stage of siege or a declaration to dissolve
parliament? Then what? The President had done all he could to ensure
his intent was clear and that his actions would not impact negatively
upon the nation, but even this could not safeguard a serious error
from occurring."

"We cannot simply leave this matter as it is. It is important for us
that state institutions know the truth of what actually happened. We
have to know clearly whether this was the result of human error or
whether there was some more deliberate act or omission to pervert the
expressed will and intent of the President, to usurp his duties and
powers. An in depth investigation must occur into this matter and
FRETILIN give its full support to the President in initiating an
appropriate legal investigation," Lu Olo added.

Lu Olo also emphasized that "this was not just a matter of an
administrative issue in the President's Office, but a matter of great
importance to the government, the parliament, political parties and
the people who need to have confidence that the highest office in the
land is functioning legally and constitutionally, not to mention with
administrative efficiency, whoever the President is or will be."

For more information, please contact Jose Teixeira: +61 438 114 960
(Australia), +670 728 7080 (Dili, Timor-Leste)

Media Release: FRETILIN welcomes President's decision to await outcome of opposition parties' request for judicial review of 2008 revised budget

FRENTE REVOLUCIONÁRIA DO TIMOR-LESTE INDEPENDENTE

FRETILIN

Media Release

Dili, Timor-Leste, 6 August 2008

FRETILIN welcomes President's decision to await outcome of opposition parties' request for judicial review of 2008 revised budget

FRETILIN today said it welcomed President Ramos Horta’s decision to wait until after the request by FRETILIN, KOTA/PPT and PUN to the Court of Appeal to undertake a constitutional review of key aspects of the revised budget of USD$425.6 million, which will see this year's original annual budget increased to more than USD$773.3 million, before he would move to promulgate it into law.

President Ramos Horta’s decision to await the outcome of the court’s constitutional review of aspects of the revised budget was announced yesterday (Tuesday 5 August) on Timor-Leste’s state owned television.

FRETILIN parliamentary leader Aniceto Guterres said, “The President’s decision is a wise and prudent one, expressing caution and concern over the legality of a number of aspects of the revised budget proposed by the Gusmao de facto Government.

“During the course of the last few months, and in particular during the parliamentary debate for this revised budget (16-31 July), FRETILIN, civil society, international donors and multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and IMF have questioned the need for such a large increase in the budget.

“In particular questions were raised in relation to the transparency and legality of this budget, the capacity to spend it and also as to why such a large amount of the budget was allocated to goods and services as opposed to capital development.

“Despite strong and widespread public opposition, the Gusmao de facto Government refused to listen to the people’s concerns and rammed the revised budget through National Parliament with very few amendments.

“We welcome the President’s decision because it not only reflects concern amongst FRETILIN, but also civil society groups and the broader public in Timor-Leste.”

For more info, please contact: Nilva Guimaraes +670 7340389 (Dili, Timor-Leste)

Media Release: FRETILIN condemns secret plan to create monopoly for vital supplies in Timor-Leste

FRENTE REVOLUCIONÁRIA DO TIMOR-LESTE INDEPENDENTE

FRETILIN

Media Release

July 22, 2007

FRETILIN condemns secret plan to create monopoly for vital supplies in Timor-Leste

Aniceto Guterres, FRETILIN leader in parliament yesterday condemned the proposal by the Gusmao AMP government to create an Economic Stabilisation Fund using US$240 million of money from the Petroleum Fund. “It is a secret plan to create a monopoly in the supply of vital fuel and building materials, as well as vital rice and other foodstuffs, in the hands of one or two businesses linked to the ruling party and ministers in the government,” said Guterres.

“Information we have indicates this is part of a secret plan to deliver all these vital contracts into the hands of a few well-connected businessmen at the expense of others who would otherwise be able to compete to bring down prices, but cannot do so with the bulk the government is purchasing,” said Guterres.

Business people, including foreign investors, have complained to the FRETILIN leadership that everything is being channeled through one or two companies.

“When FRETILIN raised this both in the parliament and in the media, we provoked a vitriolic response from the Prime Minister but no real explanation. Even members of his own CNRT party say this deal must be explained thoroughly,” said Guterres.

“We are debating the revised budget now, which would increase the money the government will have by 122 per cent, from US$349 million to US$773.3 million. It will also involve taking money out of the Petroleum Fund beyond its Estimated Sustainable Income. Yet the government has presented inadequate justification to either the Petroleum Fund Consultative Council, an independent body nominated to oversee the fund and its sustainability, or to the parliamentary committee for economy, finance and anti corruption.

“Both these bodies say the government should not be authorized by parliament to withdraw the non-sustainable amount until the government provides such a justification,” added Guterres.

“We are not against helping our people against the shocks of the international food and fuel crisis. We are against using the crisis to create a fund lacking in financial controls and monitoring, without any proper planning, which is merely a Trojan Horse for collusion, corruption and nepotism,” closed Guterres.

The Economic Stabilisation Fund would give the government US$240 million to buy food, fuel and building materials that it would then sell to the public at a subsidised price. This is the concept that recently provoked public controversy because rice prices were neither stabilised nor lowered substantively by this mode of government intervention, especially in the districts where prices of rice and other foodstocks are exorbitantly high.

For more information, please contact: Jose Teixeira +670 728 7080

Media Release: FRETILIN: Growing opposition to Gusmão's maladministration and bad governance

FRENTE REVOLUCIONÁRIA DO TIMOR-LESTE INDEPENDENTE

FRETILIN

Media Release

July 19, 2007

FRETILIN: Growing opposition to Gusmão's maladministration and bad governance

There is growing opposition to the misadministration and corruption of the Gusmão government with members of a key parliamentary committee and a key independent parliamentary consultative body rejecting the government's request to withdraw from the Petroleum Fund an amount greater than the benchmark "sustainable income"*.

The defacto Gusmão government wants the additional money from the Petroleum Fund for its revised budget.

FRETILIN parliamentarian and leader in parliament Aniceto Guterres said, “The Economy, Finance and Anti-corruption parliamentary committee met yesterday (Friday 18 July) and delivered a report on the mid year budget recommending against the government’s request to withdraw USD$290 million in excess of the sustainable income amount.

“The decision of the parliamentary commission comes in addition to the Petroleum Fund Consultative Council’s recommendation to National Parliament that it refuse to authorize the transfer of funds from the Petroleum Fund to the government budget, because the government has failed to justify that it needs the extra money from the Fund.”

The Petroleum Fund Consultative Council is an independent body that is legally mandated to oversee the workings and future of the fund and is made up of civil society and representatives of religious confessions.

The members of the Council are independent from any political party.

Guterres said, “The decisions of the parliamentary committee and the Petroleum Fund Consultative Council reflect the wide spread and growing concern and suspicion about misadministration and corruption within the Gusmão government.

“Even members of Gusmão’s own CNRT party who sit in the parliamentary committee voted against the government's request”.

Guterres added, “The Gusmão government has only actually spent 22%, or USD$77.3 million, of this year's annual budget of USD$347.7 million, which is the largest in Timor-Leste's history and far greater than any of the budgets of the previous FRETILIN governments.

“It is ludicrous that a government that is incapable of spending even a fraction of the budget, and who is also the subject of many allegations of maladministration and corruption, would ask for a mid year budget increase in the amount of USD$425.6 million (taking this year’s revised budget to USD$773.3 million).”

Guterres said that if the excessive withdrawal from the fund is approved by parliament, the government would have used over USD$1 billion in just one year, when you take into account that the government also had a transitional budget of in excess of $300 million for the period between September 2007 to 31 December 2008.

“This will mean that 43% of the Petroleum Fund's current reserves of USD2.3 billion will be spent in just one year.

“We call on other members of parliament and civil society to follow the lead of the Economy, Finance and Anti-corruption parliamentary committee and the Petroleum Fund Consultative Council in expressing their opposition to this irresponsible budget.

“It is not only them or FRETILIN which have expressed concern. Other political parties, including the National Unity Party, ASDT and KOTA/PPT, as well as business groups and civil society in general have expressed their opposition to this irresponsible and questionable budget. But mostly they question the raiding of the petroleum fund, which has been acclaimed around the world.

“If the AMP members in the parliament authorize the withdrawal, then they will be flying in the face of overwhelming public opinion in this country. We urge them to question this government’s direction, just as they did with the government’s ludicrous gun laws that were defeated in this parliament, which was out of step with public opinion on the issue,” said Guterres.

The Timor-Leste parliament began debate on the government's proposed budget revision yesterday (Friday 18 July).

Background notes:

* The Sustainable Income (known formally as the “Estimated Sustainable Income”) is calculated under the Petroleum Fund Law and informs the Government, National Parliament and civil society of the maximum amount of money that should be withdrawn from the Petroleum Fund in any given year to fund government spending. The Estimated Sustainable Income for the 2008 budget is USD$396.1 million.

If the government wants to withdraw more than the Estimated Sustainable Income it must first obtain the approval of National Parliament. As part of that approval process, the Government must set out its reasons why its total annual withdrawals from the Petroleum Fund should exceed the Estimated Sustainable Income and present them to the Petroleum Fund Consultative Council, who in turn provide their opinion to National Parliament. The aim of the Estimated Sustainable Income is to assist Timor-Leste avoid the “resource curse” experienced by other Third World resource rich nations. It does this by acting as a guide to Timor-Leste on how to spend its petroleum wealth sustainably, with the aim of creating inter-generational equity so that both current and future generations can enjoy the benefits of the petroleum resources.

For more information, please contact: Jose Teixeira +670 728 7080

Media Release: FRETILIN opposes Decree Law creating Economic Stabilization Fund

FRENTE REVOLUCIONÁRIA DO TIMOR-LESTE INDEPENDENTE

FRETILIN

Media Release

July 18, 2008

FRETILIN opposes Decree Law creating Economic Stabilization Fund

"Today FRETILIN expresses great concern about the Economic Stabilisation Fund proposed in the revised budget, which in our view is full of illegalities and lacks transparency."

This statement was made by the FRETILIN Parliamentary Leader, Aniceto Guterres, in a media release yesterday, July 17. The Decree Law was approved by the Council of Ministers and proclaimed by the President of the Republic, Ramos-Horta, on July 14. FRETILIN called on MPs in the government coalition to join it in voting against the proposed law, as they did recently over the proposed firearms law.

Guterres added: “Though there are a lot of areas for concern in this revised budget proposal, the Economic Stabilization Fund is the most worrying because it involves the withdrawal of a large amount of money from the Petroleum Fund without sufficient legal control.

“Although the president of the republic proclaimed the Decree Law, it is yet to be published and come into force. In the meantime the de facto government is seeking the approval of the parliament in its revised budget proposal to withdraw an amount of USD$240 million, which it would spend under this law, which does not detail clearly the legal and financial mechanism for procurement, disbursement and accounting for the funds in a transparent and accountable manner. So much money, representing the total of the Timor-Leste state budget between 2002 and 2005, to be managed simply by a law made up of one and a half pages and 8 sections.

“FRETILIN opposes this Decree Law and the proposal to take these funds from the Petroleum Fund in this way. Among other reasons, we strongly suspect it is nothing more than an attempt to withdraw funds from the Petroleum Fund in a non-transparent and irresponsible manner.

The objectives of the Decree Law, set out in Article 2, are the procurement and distribution of food for food security, fuels and building materials by the government. But the Decree Law does not establish the procedures, rules and mechanisms for the procurement, administration and financial control of the funds or the distribution of the acquired stock in a transparent or accountable manner. Sections 4, 5 and 6 state that these vital transparency and accountability issues will be dealt with by ‘appropriate regulations to be approved.’

“With all due respect, this demonstrates that the de facto government does not regard our peoples' parliament with seriousness and respect,” said Aniceto Guterres.

“We have to ask, what did this de facto government have in mind when it put to this parliament a proposal to approve such a large amount of money to be spent without the appropriate legal and administrative rules and procedures being set out in the law that purports to establish it? How are we, who are asked to approve this large amount of money and who are constitutionally mandated to oversee and hold the government accountable for its spending according to the laws of the land, going to be able to do our job, given that we are not informed of the rules and mechanisms to hold them accountable by?

“This also leads us to think that the de facto government merely intends to use the funds the parliament approves as a slush fund without controls or accountability. It leads us to think that there will be even less procurement through open public tenders in accordance with the applicable procurement law, to procure such large amounts of foodstuffs, fuel and building materials, than there is at the moment. We are led to think that procurement contracts for these will simply be given directly, without open public tenders, to their friends and political allies, just as the recently publicized US$14 million rice procurement contract, which has been widely questioned. This rice procurement process was questioned even by members of the CNRT party in parliament, and the de facto government has thus far not fully explained or justified it to the satisfaction of the public or to our satisfaction.

“It is because of this that FRETILIN says that it will oppose this attempt to withdraw funds from the Petroleum Fund just to allocate contracts to friends and allies of the de facto government.

“With this attempt this AMP government has demonstrated yet again that they are not serious about executing and managing the peoples’ money with seriousness, responsibility, and transparency.

“We have already seen with important dealings that have been made public that they hide things. The agreement proposing to allocate large tracts of land to a foreign company to cultivate sugarcane for bio fuels was hidden for months, despite repeated requests for the agreement to be made public. The agreement to grant the sole and exclusive rights to a foreign oil company to market Sunrise gas remains hidden from the public at the government’s insistence that it is a ‘government secret’, despite requests to make it public. The contract to purchase luxury cars for members of parliament has been hidden from us again, despite requests that they be made available to opposition parties. Now, it’s worse, with an extremely large fund of USD$240 million they are not disclosing how they will spend these funds in regulations yet to be approved.

“FRETILIN already knows that there are parties and MPs who are prepared to exercise their conscience to oppose this proposal. We appeal to these well intended Timorese in our national parliament who otherwise vote with the AMP, who follow the government’s policy orientations, to join us in opposing this proposal that is not in the interests of our people. Just as we did with the gun laws some weeks ago, we ask you to join us in exercising your consciences and vote in the interests of the welfare of our people, the future of this nation, the peace and stability deserved by our people, instead of simply following the path that is not transparent, and will be detrimental to our nation and people.

“FRETILIN agrees with the objective of helping our people to meet the current global food and fuel crisis, but will not support courses of action that are not transparent and accountable, and which serve only to benefit a very few at the expense of our people, who will continue to stay poor and go hungry. During the budget debate FRETILIN will propose measures to confront the hardship faced by our people with seriousness, responsibility and transparency.”

For further information: FRETILIN parliamentary media officer - Nilva Guimaraes +670 734 0389