The President of the Republic, Francisco Guterres Lú Olo, sworn in eight new members of the Eight Constitutional Government in a ceremony that took place on May 29, 2020, at the Palace of President Nicolau Lobato, in Dili.

The new ministers sworn in at this ceremony were the Deputy Prime Minister, Armanda Berta dos Santos, the Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Fidelis  Manuel Leite Magalhães, the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Communications, Francisco Martins da Costa Pereira Jerónimo, the Minister of Finance, Fernando  Hanjam, the Minister of State Administration, Miguel Pereira de Carvalho, the Minister of Health, Odete Maria Freitas Belo, the Minister for the Affairs of Combatants of National Liberation, Júlio Sarmento da Costa “Meta Mali” and the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Pedro dos Reis.

Prime Minister, Taur  Matan  Ruak, in his speech, said that the swearing-in of the new members of the Eight Constitutional Government aims to “ensure the restoration of governing normality”, adding that the Government intends “with this reshaping, to pave the way for political stability that allows the contribution and involvement of all Timorese, regardless of the ideology they have, the party of which they are members or the aspirations they have towards the country”.

The Prime Minister also said that “the construction of the future of our nation does not dispense with the contribution of any Timorese and it is with awareness of this fact that the Eight Constitutional Government opens itself to the participation of new political forces in an effort of concertation and dialogue that is fundamental to ensure that Timor-Leste and the Timorese can aspire to a more prosperous and happy future”.