Meeting of the Council of Ministers of January 19th, 2016
Presidency of the Council of Ministers
Sixth Constitutional Government
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Dili, January 19th, 2016
Press Release
Meeting of the Council of Ministers of January 19th, 2016
The Government met extraordinarily this Tuesday, January 19th, 2016, in the Council of Ministers’ meeting room, at the Government Palace, in Dili, and approved:
1. Decree Law on the Statutes of the Municipal Administrations, Municipal Authorities and the Interministerial Technical Group for Administrative Decentralisation
The Statutes of the Municipal Administrations, Municipal Authorities and the Interministerial Technical Group for Administrative Decentralisation define the legal framework for their organisation, responsibilities and functioning, creating the necessary conditions to achieve the reorganisation of the State’s local administration and begin the process of transferring responsibilities from centralised state administration to local administration.
The Interministerial Technical Group for Administrative Decentralisation and the Permanent Technical Group, under its authority, replace The Interministerial Group for Technical Work which, for the last two years, has been coordinating the Government’s administrative deconcentration and decentralisation strategies. These groups will continue to support the technical coordination of the territorial deconcentration process.
With the approval of this diploma the government is better placed to ensure an improved provision of goods and services to its citizens, especially to those that reside in more isolated areas within the territory, thus fulfilling one of the objectives established in the Sixth Constitutional Government Program.
2. Decree Law on the Statutes of the Presidents for the Municipal Authorities and Municipal Administrators
The process for reorganisation of the State local administration will demand more preparation, responsibility, accuracy and accountability from local leaders. This decree harmonises the legal framework for territorial deconcentration, conferring a professional and remuneration status to Municipal Administrators and the Presidents of the Municipal Authorities, in accordance to the responsibilities they will undertake.
The Council of Ministers also analysed the programme for the visit of the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, to Timor-Leste, on the 25th and 26th of January. Several aspects were reviewed, particularly the capacity of the program to further strengthen bilateral relations and the preparations made for the provision of appropriate security. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation discussed the agreements to be established between both countries during this official visit and the Minister for Interior briefed the Ministers on the internal security plan established for those two days.
This is the first visit of President Joko Widodo to Timor-Leste and takes place after Prime Minister Rui Maria de Araújo’s official visit to Indonesia, in August last year.
