Minister of State and of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and
Official Spokesperson for the Government of Timor-Leste
Díli, March 2, 2015
The Sixth Constitutional Government produces results in the first two weeks of its mandate
On Friday the Program of the Sixth Constitutional Government was discussed in a meeting of the Council of Ministers. This action capped off two weeks of intense activity to lay the foundations for the work the Government intends to complete throughout its mandate till late 2017.
The new Government was sworn into office just two weeks ago on Monday the 16th of February. The very next day all members of Government met to confirm the Organic Law required for the new Government to function. Because of the lighter reshaped executive a new law is vital as it prescribes the structure of the new Government and the roles and responsibilities of each office.
The outcome of this meeting, after contributing various adjustments and improvements, was agreement amongst all participants on the content of the new Organic Law.
Since then Government members attended to three large tasks in preparation for last Friday’s meeting on the Government Program.
Firstly they reported on progress since 2012 against the Program of the Fifth Constitutional Government, identifying exactly what had been achieved and highlighting constraints that have impeded results. Secondly Government members prepared pragmatic suggestions for the Program of the Sixth Constitutional Government based on projects that can and will be implemented in the next two years. Thirdly members of Government considered and documented the main activities that they will conduct in the first 100 days of office.
Friday’s meeting brought together all of these inputs to contribute to the new Program of the Government.
Prime Minister Dr. Rui Maria de Araújo, two weeks ago in his first speech as Prime Minister promised that his administration would be “focussing on better service delivery and on the quality of works, in a manner that is efficient, effective and accountable” and explained that results and outcomes would be the measure by which the executive should be judged.
Spokesperson for the Sixth Constitutional Government, Minister of State Agio Pereira noted “the Government has begun its work in a very active and constructive way. Members of Government are turning their attention to the considerable tasks before them, acutely aware of the need to produce results in the next two and a half years that will properly serve the people and propel the Nation of Timor-Leste into its next phase of development.”