1st Meeting of the Institutional Reforms Coordination and Monitoring Committee
Prime Minister, Taur Matan Ruak chaired, on September 7th, 2020, at the Government Palace, in Dili, the 1st Meeting of the Institutional Reforms Coordination and Monitoring Committee (CCARI, in Portuguese acronym), created by Government Resolution No 29/20202, of August 19th.
The CCARI includes the Prime Minister and the ministers with responsibility for the implementation guiding of each of the ongoing major institutional reforms, which are interconnected, and have the common goal of improving the way public sector is managed and functioning, and ensuring that the State works in a legal framework and effective legal security, and in a more efficient and effective manner.
The Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Fidelis Manuel Leite Magalhães, who assists the Prime Minister in the overall coordination of institutional reforms, is responsible for public administration reform, the Minister of Finance, Fernando Hanjam, leads the process of fiscal reform and public financial management, the Minister of Justice, Manuel Cárceres da Costa, heads the judicial reform and the Minister of State Administration, Miguel Pereira de Carvalho, is responsible for the decentralization process.
The mission of this coordinating committee is to establish the direction and general view of reforms and programs, to coordinate the consistent design, programming and implementation of reforms, to promote synergies and cooperation between reforms, to remove obstacles and overlaps between reforms, to provide political support for reforms and ensure a good performance and the timely implementation of the reforms. The committee meets every two months.
The Public Administration Reform (PAR) aims to transform the public administration, focusing on the central power structures. The PAR aims to improve the service delivery processes, to strengthen accountability and incentives for performance, to improve the human resources management and development, to review functions and structures of public administration and to improve administrative services to citizens and business.
The Fiscal Reform and Public Financial Management (RFGFP – Portuguese acronym) aims to improve the budgets, including their preparation, transparency and implementation. This reform should ensure a greater cost/ benefit ratio in financial management and service provision, decentralize and improve procurement, financial and assets management and improve revenues mobilization and collection.
The Judicial Reform (JR) aims to strengthen the Judiciary system and other institutions involved in the provision of justice.
The Decentralization Process (DP) aims at strengthening local and municipal political responsibility and good governance, transferring roles and responsibilities from the Central Government to subnational administration, developing mechanisms of fiscal decentralization and revenue collection from own sources, and improving Municipalities management and administration.
Each of the major reforms must have an official strategy or program and reports on the results achieved will be periodically presented to the Council of Ministers.
The technical and administrative Secretariat to support the Coordinating Committee will be guaranteed by the Administrative Reform Office (GRA - Portuguese acronym) of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. Depending on the areas to be supported, the GRA may be occasionally reinforced by technicians from the Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Unit (UPMA - Portuguese acronym), to be assigned by the Prime Minister.
