Commemoration of the 35th Anniversary of the Timor-Leste Proclamation of Independence (28 November 1975 – 18 November 2010)
Timor-Leste celebrated the 35th anniversary of the Proclamation of Independence, on the 28 November, at the government Palace, Díli, .
The Raising of the Flag ceremony was presided by the Chief of State, José Ramos-Horta, with the added participation of the President of the National Parliament, Fernando La Sama de Araújo, the Prime Minister, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, the President of the Court of Appeal, Cláudio Ximenes, and other guests. After the Raising of the Flag, the honour fell unto Francisco Xavier do Amaral, the first President of the Republic, to read the text of the Proclamation of Independence.
In his speech, the President of the Republic, José Ramos-Horta, referred that “at the time of the Proclamation of Independence, 28 November 1975, there were only two elders, the proclaimer, sr. Francisco Xavier do Amaral and the much-missed Nicolau Lobato, whilst us, the remainder, were younger; some with 24 years of age and others still with 25 years of age”.
“The former generation, that proclaimed Independence 35 years ago, continues today to maintain the national unity. It’s not only them, or us, that carry this weight, but also our guerrillas, the youngsters, the thousand of inhabitants that accepted the message from the FRETILIN Central Committee, that at the time started defending this new country that Francisco Xavier do Amaral, in his role as Prime Minister, on behalf of the FRETILIN Central Committee and in the company of Nicolau dos Reis Lobato, proclaimed independence on the 28 November 1975”, added the President Ramos-Horta.
“Today, in this speech, I prefer to focus on two important issues: Education and Health. When the previous Government was appointed in 2002, it didn’t have schools, teachers, or hospitals, or doctors. Today, however, these two sectors progressed. Several schools, universities and institutes were created, some responsibility of the private sector, such as Church, others under the State responsibility. In the Health sector, there are currently Referral Hospitals and Health Centres. Many timorese benefited from scholarships in the Health area, the students that attended a medical course in Cuba, in Australia, in the Philippines and in Indonesia are more than one thousand and it is our expectation that in five years our hospitals and health centres don’t have a lack of health staff”, defended the President.
In the ending of his speech, the President of the Republic sent a message, asking to the Government and to the People to pay more attention to Education and Health, since these two areas are of fundamental importance for Timor-Leste’s future. Ramos-Horta still thanked the Government and asked the leaders of the opposition parties, the National Parliament, the church and Civil Society to contribute for stability, allowing the Government to execute its program so the private sector can be more committed, the children can go to school, the teachers can be more dedicated to teaching and the farmers more free to work their land.
The ceremony ended with the Timor Order decorations to the Portuguese Republican National Guard (Portuguese acronym GNR), to Prof. George Aditjondro, to the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Esperança and to other NGOs.
