……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Dili, July 26th, 2016
Press Release
Council of Ministers’ meeting of July 26th, 2016
The Council of Ministers met this Tuesday at the Government Palace in Dili and approved several diplomas, most of them concerning State Administration, related to the 2017 elections.
These diplomas included the first amendment to the Organic Statute of the Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration (Portuguese acronym STAE), which harmonizes this Secretariat’s organizational model and clarifies aspects regarding financial discipline; the Decree-Law that approves the transitional regime for the appointment of management positions and heads of municipal authorities and municipal administrations during the phase of administrative decentralization, which ensures the stability of the State’s Local Administration management and leadership during that period by regulating with increased detail the allocation of management and leadership positions, which should remain after the Local Government bodies and services have assumed their responsibilities; the Government Decree that approves the voter registration model forms, which also includes the model for the new voter registration card; and the Government Resolution approving the voter registration process calendar, which sets out the key dates for voter registration process already underway and due to close until January next year. The Council of Ministers also analyzed the calendar of the community leaders election process.
The investment strategy for the management of urban solid waste in Dili was discussed, which also falls within the responsibility of the Ministry of State Administration.
Following the decision taken during the meeting of the Council of Ministers of May 24th, the Decree-law that creates the Committee for establishing the Authority for Inspection and Supervision of Economic, Health and Food Activities, PI was approved. This Committee will be responsible for this new entity’s installation.
The Decree-Law that created the Civil Aviation Authority of Timor-Leste was amended for the first
time. This first amendment attributes some powers, on a transitional basis, to the ad hoc committee, foreseen in that diploma. This committee will remain in office until the Board of Directors has been appointed.
The Second Cycle of the Universal Periodic Review Report on the enforcement of human rights in the country was approved and will be submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council in August this year.
Through the adoption of the Proposal for Resolution on the Accession to the World Organization for Animal Health, the Government plans to carry through the internal accession process to that intergovernmental organization, responsible for improving animal health worldwide. Timor-Leste was admitted as a member in November 2010.
Several other issues were discussed, including the Institutional Strengthening Policy and the Law Proposing the Approval of the Mining Code. Both of these will be reassessed by the Council of Ministers after the inclusion of recommendations issued in this meeting.
Finally, the Vice Minister of Finance presented the results of the study on poverty in Timor-Leste, carried out in 2014. The data collected point to a sharp reduction of the poverty rate in the country since 2007, when this study was carried out. According to international standards, the poverty rate in Timor-Leste has dropped from 47.2% in 2007 to 30.3% in 2014, which means compliance with the Millennium Development Goals. During the past seven years, the average annual poverty reduction has been around 2.4%.