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Press Release
Meeting of the Council of Ministers on May 19th, 2021
The Council of Ministers met in the Ministry of Finance, in Dili and approved the draft Decree-Law, regarding the extraordinary financial incentive to the Sucos, presented by the Minister of State Administration, Miguel Pereira de Carvalho. This extraordinary financial compensation is attributed to the Sucos for the exceptional increase of work already done and to be done in the present and next months, and in recognition of the need and importance of the work done by the Sucos, in the interest and benefit of the Timorese State, both in the context of the pandemic situation and in the Government response to natural disasters.
The draft Agreement between the Timorese State and the Australian State for the Cooperation Project in the area of territorial administrative decentralization and local infrastructure development (PARTISIPA), to be implemented between July 1st, 2021 and June 30th, 2031, was approved. The Programme is country-wide in scale, with implementation elements at central and local level. PARTISIPA has three components, the first supporting the PNDS programme, the second building the capacity of municipal administrations and authorities, and the third component refers to improving infrastructure operations and maintenance.
The Council of Ministers approved the draft Law Proposal for the sixth amendment to Law 7/2006, of December 28th, on the Electoral Law for the President of the Republic, also presented by the Minister of State Administration. This draft Law Proposal had already been subject to deliberation in the Meeting of the Council of Ministers on April 8th 2021, however due to the introduction of substantial changes in the final drafting phase, it became necessary to submit it to a new deliberation of the Council of Ministers. Given the upcoming presidential elections, this amendment aims to adapt to the current situation, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and to strengthen the capacity building for a better response to citizens’ needs. It is therefore intended to strengthen the formal requirements for candidacy, to clarify and organise the electoral process and to facilitate the conditions for citizens to exercise their right to vote.
The Council of Ministers examined and endorsed the proposal, presented by the Minister of Finance, Rui Augusto Gomes, for the segmentation of the Petroleum Fund, in Liquidity Portfolio and Growth Portfolio. The Liquidity Portfolio aims to ensure the funding of transfers to the General State Budget over the next three years, and should be invested in high liquidity and low risk assets. It is intended that the remaining value of the Fund be invested in the Growth Portfolio, in accordance with the investment rules set out in Law 9/2005 of August 3rd, the Petroleum Fund Law.
After the analysis of the country’s epidemiological situation presentation, by the Situation Room of the Integrated Centre for Crisis Management, the Council of Ministers also deliberated to propose to His Excellency, the President of the Republic, Francisco Guterres Lú Olo, the state of emergency renewal, for more thirty days. Given the worrying evolution of the epidemiological situation and the proliferation of cases of COVID-19 contagion registered, and to prevent and neutralize the risks of spread of SARS-CoV-2, to protect public health and response capacity of the National Health System, the Government proposes to the President of the Republic that, with the renewal of the state of emergency, the suspension or restriction of some fundamental rights and guarantees may be allowed.
Timor-Leste has an accumulated total of 4765 cases since the beginning of the pandemic. Of the 2238 currently active cases, 1851 are in Dili municipality, 128 in Baucau, 101 in Covalima and 75 in Viqueque. The national incidence rate is 13.8/100,000 and in Dili it is 42.5/100,000. So far 3.3% of the population has received the first dose of the vaccine against COVID-19. In the first phase about 28,600 people were vaccinated and in the second phase, since May 10th, 20,094 people have received the vaccine.
The Council of Ministers approved the draft Government Resolution, presented by the Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Fidelis Manuel Leite Magalhães, which defines the objectives for the vaccination campaign and guidelines to ensure compliance with the preventive measures in place. The Government Resolution defines as an objective to reach, in the vaccination campaign, a number of 5,000 vaccinated per day, directing the relevant departments to create the necessary mechanisms to accelerate the pace of vaccination. It also directs all Government departments to approve the necessary internal regulations to ensure compliance with the preventive measures in place in the internal operation of services and in public attendance. Finally, partial or complete vaccination is defined as a relevant criterion to be adopted by the public administration in determining which employees are to work face-to-face.
Finally, the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Joaquim Amaral, made a presentation on the situation of Timor-Leste’s accession process to the World Trade Organization (WTO). At this moment, Timor-Leste holds the status of observer country and is in the process of negotiating the accession process to the WTO, to join the 164 countries that are already part of the organization. The WTO regulates the rules of trade between countries, with the objective of guaranteeing that all commercial activities are carried out in the easiest, freest and most predictable way possible. The Government of Timor-Leste, through the negotiating team led by the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs is preparing to participate in the second High Level Negotiating Meeting of the WTO Working Group to be held in July 2021. END