Media Release: Timor-Leste faces new institutional crisis

FRENTE REVOLUCIONÁRIA DO TIMOR-LESTE INDEPENDENTE

FRETILIN

Media Release

31 May 2008

Timor-Leste faces new institutional crisis

Early this week, on May 27, the Social Democratic Association of Timor, with five MPs, withdrew from the Parliamentary majority coalition, AMP, providing a trigger for President Jose Ramos Horta to dissolve the Gusmão government and ask another party to try to form a workable majority.

José Reis, Assistant Secretary General of Timor-Leste's largest party, FRETILIN, said today that Timor-Leste has entered a new institutional crisis, which must be resolved quickly if the country is to regain stability and security.

ASDT entered a political alliance with FRETILIN on May 1 and signed a joint program on May 8, citing incompetence and corruption on the part of the AMP de facto government.

FRETILIN has 21 MPs, its ally KOTA/PPT has two MPs, and Fernanda Borges' PUN has three. The combined vote of CNRT, PD (Democratic Party), PSD (Social Democratic Party) and Undertim (comprising of some veteran fighters) is 34, still a majority in a parliament of 65.

However, PSD, with six MPs, is also now highly critical of CNRT.

“If the AMP, to which the President of the Republic gave his confidence to form government, has fallen, it means that Mr Gusmao’s party, CNRT, will have to seek to form a new alliance and form a new government,” Reis said.

“It really does depend on the President as to whether he continues to give confidence to Mr Gusmao to continue as head of government or give someone else the opportunity,” Reis added.

“In August 2007 President Ramos-Horta invited Mr Gusmão as leader of the AMP to form government, because he was able to cobble together a post-election coalition made up of disparate political groups and parties, many bought off by positions in the government. Mr Gusmao managed to find only a narrow majority in the parliament.

“We always believed the AMP would not last, and in less than a year we can see that its slim majority has now been eroded by the withdrawal of ASDT. That’s why we pushed for the creation of a government of grand inclusion, with a prime minister chosen with the consensus of all parties, but with government posts being selected in proportion to parliamentary seats held.

“Now we have a very unstable and undesirable situation, which must change if Timor-Leste is to get back on track.

“ASDT has traditionally been a very united and disciplined political force. We expect them to continue to behave accordingly and respect Mr Xavier do Amaral, their party President, the man who was a founder of the first ASDT and who proclaimed National Independence in 1975,” said Reis.

Reis stressed that the ASDT move to quit the AMP demonstrates that the AMP leadership does not value the historic role of parties that led the struggle for Timor-Leste's independence from Indonesia.

“ASDT have made it clear that they have been ignored. ASDT also have made it clear that they have not been happy with the policy direction of the AMP de facto government. They clearly say there has been no benefit to the people from the large budgets that have been approved by the parliament and yet no one seems to know where the money has gone.”

Contact: Jose Teixeira  +670 728 7080, +61 438 114 960; Nilva Guimaraes +670 734 0389

 

The ASDT statement of May 27 reads in full as follows:

DECLARATION OF POLITICAL POSITION

ASDT PARTY

No.06/V/P.ASDT/2008

Given the current situation and the political stance of the AMP government that at this time no longer benefits the people of Timor-Leste, and least of all members and supporters of the ASDT Party.

Given also that the ASDT Party has put forward to the AMP government a proposal as follows:

1. Persons to substitute the Minister and Secretary of State (Mr Gil Alves and Mr Abilio Lima),
2. Persons who should be nominated to posts such as ambassador,
3. Persons who should be nominated Interim Administrators in Districts and Sub-Districts where the ASDT Party won majorities in the parliamentary election.

To date no response has been received from the Prime Minister to the proposals made.

The political dynamics as a result of the impact of the economic crisis, such as the constantly rising price of everyday basic necessities have made the Maubere people unhappy and lose confidence in the AMP government.

The situation caused by the fact that the people are not seeing anything concrete from the large amounts of money that we have all heard was approved by the National Parliament for the General Budget of the State in order to help with the development of our people, and we all ask, where has it all gone? The ASDT Party sees the current very difficult living conditions of the people, and the National Executive Council (CNE) therefore states the following:

1. It declares to the people that they can no longer blame the ASDT Party, because as they can see for themselves the ASDT Party's representatives no longer participate in the AMP Government;
2. It declares to the people that starting today, the 27th of May 2008, whenever the AMP Government does anything that negatively affects the people, they should ask the CNRT, PD and PSD Parties directly because the ASDT Party is no longer responsible and no longer participates in the decisions taken by the AMP government, as the AMP Government has shown no consideration for the views expressed by the ASDT Party.

Dili this 27th day of the month of May in the year 2008.

The National Executive Council of the ASDT Party:

Francisco Xavier do Amaral

President of ASDT Party

Francisco Gomes

Secretary General

 

 

 

LUSA: Alkatiri pede a Presidente angolano para ajudar a ultrapassar crise

Lusa - 31 de Maio de 2008, 16:23

Timor-Leste: Alkatiri pede a Presidente angolano para ajudar a ultrapassar crise política timorense

Lisboa - O secretário-geral da FRETILIN, Mari Alkatiri, pediu ajuda ao Presidente angolano, José Eduardo dos Santos, para ultrapassar a crise política institucional em Timor-Leste, adianta hoje a edição online do Jornal de Angola.

Segundo o jornal, o líder da Frente Revolucionária de Timor-Leste Independente, que foi recebido sexta-feira pelo Presidente angolano, considera que, tendo em conta a sua experiência na resolução de conflitos em África, os conselhos de José Eduardo dos Santos podem ser úteis.

Em declarações aos jornalistas no final do encontro, Mari Alkatiri disse que a situação política em Timor-Leste tem melhorado e já não há violência, mas a crise não está resolvida por persistir a "contradição no seio da liderança nacional", cita o Jornal de Angola.

Resolver o problema dos mais de 100.000 deslocados, das deserções nas Forças Armadas e da articulação desta instituição com a Polícia Nacional contribuirá, segundo Alkatiri, para ultrapassar a crise política em Timor-Leste.

Sobre o actual primeiro-ministro timorense, Xanana Gusmão - que fundou um novo partido que governa em coligação - Mari Alkatiri considerou que "não tem legitimidade para governar", declarando-se preocupado com a sua "falta de competência" para dirigir o executivo, ainda segundo o Jornal de Angola.

O líder da FRETILIN declarou igualmente que a relação entre o Presidente timorense, José Ramos-Horta, e o primeiro-ministro "tem sido difícil".

Mari Alkatiri, antigo primeiro-ministro de Timor-Leste, estará segunda-feira em Lisboa para proferir a conferência "Timor no Caminho do Futuro", promovida pela Comissão Asiática da Sociedade de Geografia e pelo Instituto Luso-Árabe para a Cooperação.

Após a conferência Alkatiri, receberá a Medalha de Mérito da Cooperação daquele Instituto.

PAL-Lusa/fim

Media Release: FRETILIN exposes wholesale land giveaway by Agriculture Minister

FRENTE REVOLUCIONÁRIA DO TIMOR-LESTE INDEPENDENTE
FRETILIN

Media Release
May 29, 2008


FRETILIN exposes wholesale land giveaway by Agriculture Minister

The Deputy Leader of FRETILIN, Francisco Miranda Branco, on Tuesday (27 May) called on the de-facto Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, Mariano Sabino, to release all details of a deal he signed with Indonesian company GTLeste Biotech to give away 100,000 hectares of agricultural land for sugarcane cultivation and to build a sugar and ethanol processing plant. FRETILIN is the largest party in Timor-Leste’s National Parliament.

The deal gives exclusive rights to GTLeste Biotech to grow and process sugarcane and to sell and export sugar and ethanol in and from Timor-Leste for a period of 50 years, with an option for a further 50 years. Timor Leste has an estimated arable land area of 400,000 hectares, so the GTLeste Biotech deal alienates 25% of the arable land to biofuel production.

Branco and others criticized the deal as being non-transparent and not in the national interest, because one company has been given exclusive rights to an industry and land for 100 years without other potential bidders having had the opportunity, and because of its impact on food security.

“To keep the deal so secretive violates every principle of good governance and the public interest, not to mention the national interest,” said Branco.
But it is not the only deal which has been questioned in parliament. Last month, the President of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) Mario Carrascalao MP, queried a deal allegedly signed by the same Minister for 200,000 hectares to plant rubber trees, in addition to the GTLeste Biotech deal.

“We share Mr Carrascalao's concerns. But because we were unable to obtain a copy of the agreements from the government, we have been unable to scrutinize the benefits and value of the agreements. Now that we have a copy of the agreement, it is clear why the minister and the government have kept the agreement away from public scrutiny,” explained Branco.

“Given our alarm at the GTLeste Biotech, we are extremely anxious about what is in the agreement to give 200,000 hectares for rubber tree planting. It has been even more secretive. No substantial details have yet been made available to either the parliament or civil society, despite requests. There is no transparency in how the de facto government deals with these questions,” stressed Branco.

“FRETILIN contends that if the second agreement does give away 200,000 hectares to a foreign company, then this minister has given away nearly five percent (5%) of our total land mass in less than his first year as Minister without any opportunity whatsoever for public scrutiny of these deals.

“At this rate, if this minister remains in his post for a full five years, he could well give away close to half of the country to foreign interests. During the election campaign we warned that this minister's party, the Democratic Party, favored too much the access by large foreign investors to Timor-Leste. It seems we were very right, unfortunately,” added Branco.

“The Prime Minister announced his intention to establish an anti corruption commission. If that ever gets up and running, this deal with GTLeste Biotech would be among the first matters it would have to investigate. FRETILIN is considering requesting the Ombudsman for Human Rights and Justice, the constitutionally mandated anti-corruption watchdog, to investigate this deal,” said Branco in closing.

Contact: Jose Teixeira +670 728 7080; Nilva Guimaraes +670 734 0389

Media Release: FRETILIN welcomes President's call for respect for Petroleum Fund, commits to cooperation

FRENTE REVOLUCIONÁRIA DO TIMOR-LESTE INDEPENDENTE
FRETILIN

Media Release
May 26, 2008


FRETILIN welcomes President's call for respect for Petroleum Fund, commits to cooperation

Dili: The leader of the FRETILIN parliamentary group, Aniceto Guterres, has welcomed calls from President Jose Ramos-Horta for the de-facto AMP government to operate within the existing petroleum fund laws and not to unnecessarily and unilaterally withdraw additional revenue from the Fund.

"FRETILIN supports the president and what he said regarding the management of petroleum receipts and budget preparation and execution," said Guterres. FRETILIN is the largest party in the National Parliament.

In his speech to the nation on the sixth anniversary of Timor-Leste's restoration of independence on 20 May 2002, President Ramos-Horta praised the work by the Alkatiri government in establishing a strong petroleum revenue stream for the people of Timor-Leste.

This was President Horta's second major address since returning from Australia after having survived an attempt on his life on February 11, 2008

Dr Ramos-Horta said: "…we should acknowledge the success of the negotiations regarding petroleum, which culminated in the Timor Sea Treaty and the creation of the Petroleum Fund, an institution recognized internationally as among the best in the world.

"At this time, we have a Petroleum Fund with nearly USD$3 billion that can be utilized by the current government, without needing to amend the law in force, as long as the government can demonstrate its capacity to bring about good budget management and execution, and it can put forward convincing plans and programs to the mandated institutions," President Ramos-Horta added.

Mr Guterres commented: "These are very clear and strong indications of the President's desire to see a responsible, inclusive and consultative approach to ongoing management of the National Petroleum Fund establishment by the FRETILIN government. It reflects what we have been saying since the fund began in 2005 and when we opposed Mr Xanana Gusmao's calls for amendments and more money to be used from the petroleum fund. These statements by the President clearly support our prudent and realistic approach to revenue management and budgeting."

In November 2007 Timor-Leste's much praised Petroleum Fund was ranked No. 3 in the world out of 32 similar state-owned funds in 28 countries, by the renowned Washington think tank, the Peterson Institute for International Economics. It has been widely acclaimed by international donors, the multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and IMF and other international experts, for its transparency, accountability and security.

The current Petroleum Fund Law is also domestically valued and respected, having attained national consensus in its establishment. It won unanimous approved in the previous parliament, with every political party (except CNRT) which is now represented in today's parliament voting in favor of it, though current CNRT members of parliament who were in the last parliament (as members of other parties) also voted for it.

"No changes should be made to this petroleum fund institution and petroleum revenue management framework without undertaking an equally wide public consultation process over the same period of time. Any legislative amendments without this will lack legitimacy. However, we also believe that the de-facto government would find it hard to get the numbers to make any of the proposed changes," added Gueterres.

One changes would allow the government to take more revenue annually to have a larger budget. The current budget is already twice the last FRETILIN government budget and four to five times the average budget FRETILIN had available for 2004-2006.

"FRETILIN stands by its election promise to strongly defend Timor-Leste's Petroleum Fund from irresponsible and wasteful spending raids by the de-facto AMP government. They have delivered nothing for the poor of our country despite having had two huge budgets between August 2007 and today. But what we now see are only a lot of new cars, a lot of corruption, a lot of handouts that do not benefit all of the very needy in our society, and a very few from the business and political elite getting very rich. We see the diversion of resources away from those who truly need them, but little for the people," said Guterres.

"As President Ramos-Horta said, they have to demonstrate better budget execution and acceptable plans and programs to the parliament and society. We agree with that. It is too dangerous to the Petroleum Fund to do otherwise until these assurances are in place. We will hold the de-facto government accountable in the parliament on this," added Guterres.
In his first address to the National Parliament on his return from Australia after the February 11 attempt on his life, President Ramos-Horta asked the AMP de-facto government to utilize the extensive governance knowledge and experience of former FRETILIN ministers, such as Dr Mari Alaktiri, Estanislau da Silva, Jose Teixeira and Ana Pessoa to address the critical question of how to ensure the petroleum fund revenues are used to help the poorest of the poor in Timor-Leste, in light of the current world food price crisis.

"FRETILIN has stood ready to work together with all the political forces in our country to find a consensus-based approach to try to resolve the nation's problems and overcome the challenges before us all as Timorese," said Guterres.

"In his May 20 address to the FRETILIN faithful, which also included the presence of a number of foreign ambassadors, our Secretary General, Dr Mari Alkatiri, publicly stated that he is prepared to meet at any time with Mr Xanana Gusmao to discuss how we can all move the country forward. He awaits Mr Gusmao's response," concluded Guterres.

Contact: Jose Teixeira +670 728 7080;
Nilva Guimaraes +670 734 0389

Angola: Fretilim Secretary General in Country

Angola: Fretilim Secretary General in Country

Angola Press Agency (Luanda)

26 May 2008

Posted to the web 26 May 2008

Luanda

The general secretary of East Timor's ruling FRETILIM [sic] party, Mári Alkatiri arrived Sunday evening in the country in light of the existing bilateral relations between that party and Angola's ruling MPLA party.
Mári Alkatiri did not speak to the press on his arrival, but promised to do so at the end of the four-day visit.
According to MPLA's secretary of the foreign affairs, Paulo Teixeira Jorge, who was at Luanda's "4 de Fevereiro" International Airport to welcome the East Timorean politician, said that FRETILIM expressed interest to visit Angola to carry out an objective analysis of the current situation in East Timor, after the dramatic events that occurred.
The director of the department of foreign affairs, Nelo Rua was with Paulo Jorge at the airport.

Media Release: FRETILIN expresses solidarity with victims of China earthquake

FRENTE REVOLUCIONÁRIA DO TIMOR-LESTE INDEPENDENTE

FRETILIN

Media release
16 May 2008

FRETILIN expresses solidarity with victims of China earthquake

FRETILIN, the largest political party in Timor-Leste (East Timor), has
expressed its solidarity with the families of the victims of the
earthquake in south western China which has left more than 50,000
people dead.

FRETILIN Secretary General Mari Alkatiri said, "The earthquake in
China is a tragic event and we support all reconstruction efforts to
help the region recover."

"We also reiterate our full solidarity to the People and Government of
People's Republic of China and to the Communist Party of China in
their efforts to assist the in the region to recover from the
destruction" added Mari Alkatiri

The earthquake which measured 7.9 on the richer scale hit the
southwestern province of Sichuan on Monday (12 May) afternoon.

For more information, please contact:

Jose Teixeira (+670) 728 7080

Media Release: FRETILIN MPs walk out of parliament in protest

FRENTE REVOLUCIONÁRIA DO TIMOR-LESTE INDEPENDENTE
FRETILIN

Media Release
May 7, 2008

FRETILIN MPs walk out of parliament in protest

FRETILIN MPs walked out of yesterday afternoon's session (Tuesday 6 May 2008) of Timor Leste's Parliament in protest at attempts to prevent questioning of two government ministers involved in dubious commercial transactions worth many millions of dollars.

FRETILIN said the President of the National Parliament, Fernando Lasama Araujo misused parliament’s standing orders to restrict questioning of the Mr Mariano Sabino, Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, and Mr Gil Alves, Minister for Tourism, Commerce and Industry, to one question per party.

FRETILIN parliamentary leader Aniceto Guterres said today he wanted to ask the Minister for Tourism, Commerce and Industry why a multi million dollar contract for rice importation was single sourced instead of through an international tender.

“The de facto Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries needs to confirm or deny reports that he has signed agreements granting foreign companies 300,000 hectares for rubber plantations and another 100,000 hectares for sugar cane for bio fuel, when our people are facing high prices for all food commodities and our country is still importing most of its rice needs,” Guterres said.

Guterres accused parliamentary President Lasama of misusing standing orders to protect the de facto Ministers and the de facto AMP government from being held accountable to the people's representatives on these very serious questions.

“This is contrary to parliamentary rules and the practice in the previous parliament. This is an undemocratic trend and shows how desperate the de facto government’s allies are becoming in the face of a wave of allegations of maladministration and highly questionable deals involving government tenders worth many millions of dollars,” added Guterres.

“These latest cases of maladministration follow revelations that Deputy Prime Minister Jose Luis Guterres, used public funds to increase his wife’s salary as a diplomat in New York, whilst he was Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. The money was used to purchase a grand piano.

“For over one week we have formally requested the parliament to call the de facto AMP government to attend parliament to respond to our queries about the level of success in spending the budget for the transitional period 1 July to 31 December 2007. But to date we have had no response. Given the restrictions by the President of the Parliament yesterday, we fear that our efforts to hold the government accountable on budget execution will be similarly thwarted,” said Guterres.

Despite the lack of quorum once FRETILIN and ASDT were not present, the parliament continued to proceed, another serious issue with the conduct of the President of the Parliament.

Contact:

Jose Teixeira +670 728 7080
Nilva Guimaraes +670 734 0389