Meeting of the Council of Ministers of March 29th, 2016
Presidency of the Council of Ministers
Sixth Constitutional Government
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Dili, March 29th, 2016
Meeting of the Council of Ministers of March 29th, 2016
The Council of Ministers met this Tuesday, March 29th, 2016, at the Government Palace in Dili, and approved:
1. Government Decree on the Special Procedure for Selection of the Presidents of the Municipal Authorities and Municipal Administrators
This decree requires that selection through a procedure that complies with principles of fairness, merit, openness (in order to promote the participation of a greater number of candidates) and gender equality, meeting the rules established by the Statutes of the Municipal Authorities and Municipal Administrations. The programme of the Sixth Constitutional Government provides that, up to 2017, a policy of administrative decentralisation and structuring of Local Power, reorganizing the Local Administration, should be implemented.
2. Government Decree on the System of Evaluation of Professional Performance of the Presidents of the Municipal Authorities and Municipal Administrators
The rules adopted in this decree seek to make the Presidents of the Municipal Authorities and Municipal Administrators answerable for their management acts, to ensure greater and better provision of public goods and services by the Local Administration of the State. The new system defines the parameters and criteria for the evaluation these leaders will be subject to, with a view to promoting their initiative, responsibility, rigor, quality and capability for innovation in their work.
3. Government Decree on the remuneration and ceremonial status of the Presidents of the Municipal Authorities and Municipal Administrators
Recognising the large responsibilities that the Presidents of the Municipal Authorities and Municipal Administrators will have, it is fundamental to value and dignify these functions, in particular through compatible remuneration. This decree sets out the parameters for that compatible renumeration.
4. Government Decree on the remuneration of the members of the technical assistance offices to the Presidents of the Municipal Authorities and the Municipal Administrators
The Statutes of the Municipal Administrations and Municipal Authorities, approved by Decree-Law no. 3/2016, of March 16th, provides for the existence of technical assistance offices to the Presidents of the Municipal Authorities and Municipal Administrators, so it was necessary to establish the amount of their respective remuneration.
5. Draft Law on the Special Arrangements for the Determination of the Ownership of Immovable Assets
This Draft Law was based on the text prepared by the Fourth Constitutional Government, approved by the National Parliament and vetoed by the previous President of the Republic. This law creates mechanisms to identify and determine legitimate owners and assign the first land titles. The guiding principles are the respect for previous basic rights, recognition of the primary possession as the basis for the allocation of the right to property and compensation in cases of overlapping rights. Its approval allows, fairly and efficiently, the determination of legitimate owners, recognition of the rights of ownership over immovable assets in Timor-Leste and promotes the distribution of land.
The analysis of this diploma began at the ordinary meeting on Tuesday, March 29th, and, due to its complexity and importance (as well as the diploma that follows), had to be extended for one more day, April 1st.
6. Draft Law on Expropriation for Public Utility
The Law of Expropriations comes to regulate the terms under which the State can perform the expropriation of the properties of its citizens, when reasons of public interest so justify, in obedience to the constitutional principles of legality and equality, and always through the payment of fair compensation. Rules are established to strictly limit the possibility of the State expropriating property belonging to private citizens. Clear criteria for determining the fair value of the compensation to be paid are also set.
The Council of Ministers also reviewed:
1. El Niño - Report of the situation in Timor-Leste
The Ministry of the Interior updated the information provided to the Government on the impacts of the phenomenon known as El Niño and the measures being developed, following the presentation made at the meeting of the Council of Ministers on February 23rd, 2016.
A presentation was made on the precipitation levels of December 2015 to February of this year, throughout the national territory. The most affected municipalities and the warehouses available to the State to store food to be distributed to the affected communities were identified; and criteria for distribution were defined. The results were presented on the basis of the resiliency analysis performed by the World Food Program, of the United Nations.
2. Territorial Planning Law
Land use and urban planning are not yet regulated by a Basic Law. It is therefore up to the present law to regulate general matters. The technical preparation of various territorial plans that will allow the legal framing of these plans and influence their respective content, are expected to be published shortly.
