Meeting of the Council of Ministers on September 16, 2020
Presidency of the Council of Ministers
Eighth Constitutional Government
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Press Release
Meeting of the Council of Ministers on September 16, 2020
The Council of Ministers met, at the Government Palace, in Dili, and analysed the political-legislative options underlying the Decree-Law draft on the second amendment to Decree-Law No 1/2007, of January 18th, on the Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration (STAE) Organic Statute, presented by the Minister of State Administration, Miguel Pereira de Carvalho. The objective is to create a stronger and more adequate structure, in order to provide more professionalism and quality in the organization of electoral processes, to the political parties and citizens in general.
The Decree-Law draft for the establishment of the Social Security Reserve Fund (SSRF) and for the definition of the respective Management Model, presented by the Vice Prime-Minister and Minister of Social Solidarity and Inclusion, Mrs Armanda Berta dos Santos, was approved. The SSRF is under the supervision of and answer to the Government member responsible for the Social Security area, and it aims to ensure the financial stabilization and sustainability of the Social Security contributory regime, finality to which it is exclusively allocated. The allowance of this fund constitutes Social Security assets and are not considered public funds. The SSRF is administered and managed under a stabilizing public capitalization regime, obeying criteria of security, profitability and liquidity, in a prudent manner and in accordance with the principles of good government, for the benefit of contributors to the Social Security contributory regime.
The Council of Ministers approved the Decree-Law draft relating to the first amendment to Decree-Law No 3/2019, of March 5th, on the Ministry of Health Organic Structure, presented by the Minister of Health, Odete Maria Freitas Belo. This intervention has as main effect the creation of the National Directorate of Family Health, in order to complement the attributions of the Minister of Health, defined in the Organic Structure of the 8th Constitutional Government, and mainly to better respond to the challenges faced in terms of primary health care, with the creation of legal and operational conditions that facilitate greater involvement of individuals and families in health activities.
The Council of Minister approved the Government Resolution draft, presented by the Minister of Tourism, Commerce and Industry, José Lucas do Carmo da Silva, who appoints Rosito de Sousa Monteiro, as member of the Board of Directors of the Institute for the Quality of Timor-Leste, IP.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Adaljiza Albertina Xavier Reis Magno, presented the Decree-Law draft, approved by the Council of Minister, whose object is the first amendment to Decree-Law no 21/2020, of June 5th, which created the temporary subsidy in the scope of the response to COVID-19, attributed to Timorese citizens who are or temporarily reside abroad. With this change, the number of countries covered by this mechanism increases, thus increasing the number of Timorese citizens protected, at a time when the effects of the pandemic continue to have dramatic effects worldwide. As result, Timorese citizens who temporarily reside in Bangladesh, Belgium, China, South Korea, United Kingdom, Mozambique or Singapore are now covered by this measure.
The Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Joaquim Amaral, presented a Decree-Law draft, approved by the Council of Ministers, on support for the resumption and maintenance of activity in the context of the economy recovery, including self-employed workers, deemed necessary and suitable for economic recovery. Thus, the entities enrolled in the social security contributory regime, registered in the tax system, who present a loss of turnover or income and who intend to resume or maintain the activity, are entitled to partial exemption from monthly social security contributions and to allocation of a monthly monetary amount, designated as subsidy to support the recovery and maintenance of economic activity.
In order to have access to this support, the employers must be registered within social security until the entry into force of this law, while individual entrepreneurs, self-employed workers and domestic service workers have access to support, even if they register after the entry into force of the law, but they must maintain their social security registration for, at least, three months after the last support was granted. To receive this support, the entities are obliged to provide the usual service and to be open to the public, excluding beneficiaries who are unable to provide the usual services, namely airlines and travel agencies. Support is granted monthly, during the 4 months following the entry into force of the Decree-Law.
Lastly, the Council of Ministers approved the Government Resolution draft, presented by the Minister of Finance, Fernando Hanjam, on the first amendment to Government Resolution No 13/2020, of May 12th, on the Value of the Remuneration Supplement for public administration employees, agents and workers, who provided their professional activity in the prevention or control services of COVID-19 disease, or in conditions of direct exposure to the SARS-CoV2 virus, during the state of emergency. The approved Resolution defines the value of the remuneration supplement to be paid to the professional categories added by Decree-Law no 34/2020, of September 2nd, to the list provided for Decree-Law no 17/2020, of April 30th. END
