Government of Timor-Leste

On August 11^th, 2020, the National Parliament confirmed, in an extraordinary Plenary Session, in the presence of the Prime Minister and members of the Government, the declaration of the state of emergency, decreed by the President of the Republic, Francisco Guterres Lú Olo, for 30 days, from 00:00 on August 6^th to 23:59 September 4^th, 2020.

Prime Minister, Taur Matan Ruak, in his speech, expressed, to the National Parliament, the need to implement the fourth period of the State of Emergency, after discussion with the Head of State. Three reasons led the Government to request the implementation of the State of Emergency: the first, the increasing number of transmission cases in neighbouring countries, namely in Indonesia and Australia, the second, the risk of infection due to the importation of cases, and the third, the legal uncertainty.

“There are three reasons, the first, the number of cases of people infected with COVID-19 continues to increase in our neighbouring countries: Indonesia has exceeded 127 thousand cases, and Australia has exceeded 21 thousand. And we are not even talking about the cases at a global level, which exceeded 20 million infected and 700 thousand deaths. Second, the risk of infection through the importation of cases is very large, and third, and worst of all, we are in a situation of legal insecurity. Mr. President, ladies, and gentlemen, I believe you understand this: embassies have invoked the Vienna Convention and do not comply with the rules we impose. If these embassies act in this way, how can we control the situation in our country? So, looking at this situation of insecurity, the only solution is to move towards the State of Emergency”, explained the Chief Executive, this Tuesday, to the deputies, in the National Parliament, after confirming the Declaration of the State of Emergency, decreed by the President of the Republic through Decree No. 55/2020, of August 5^th, and which had been authorized by the Permanent Commission of the National Parliament, through Resolution No. 8/2020, of August 5^th.”

The Head of Government reaffirmed that “on August 3^rd, the Government decided to ask the President of the Republic for a declaration of the State of Emergency and, on August 4^th, this imported case in our country arose, further justifying the need to implement the State of Emergency. That is why, today, we are here to justify the need to implement the State of Emergency in our country. So, on behalf of the Government, I thank the National Parliament for your understanding. I hope that the State of Emergency can be implemented immediately, and the Government will make every possible effort to execute it, in accordance with the existing mandate”.