Council of Ministers Meeting, 18 November 2010
IV CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERMENT
SECRETARIAT OF STATE OF COUNCIL OF MINISTERS
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PRESS RELEASE
Council of Ministers Meeting, 18 November 2010
The Council of Ministers met this Thursday, 18 November 2010, at the Council of Ministers Meeting Room, in the Government Palace, in Díli and approved:
1. Decree-Law that Approves the Organic Law of the Ministry of Infrastructures
This diploma defines the organizational structure of the Ministry of Infrastructures and the competence and attributions of each of its services and organisms.
The activity of the Ministry of Infrastructures covers a vast set of areas of political intervention in domains of essential nature: housing, public works, transport and communication networks, telecommunications, electricity, water and basic sanitation throughout the country, were the contractual relationships with constructors and consultants, resulting from public procurement, can also be highlighted.
Taking into account that infrastructures have a relevant place in the economic development framework of Timor-Leste, the Government understands that it is determinant the Ministry of Infrastructure has an organizational and functional structure that allows for the prosecution of its attributions, with gains in efficiency of managing existing services and human resources. In this way, the organic structure of the Ministry of Infrastructures obeys to the same common matrix defined for other Ministries, safeguarding the specificities of this Ministry which justify particular options.
2. Authorization request for Absence of the Country, by Members of Government
Taking into account the need to improve planning and feasibility of the members of Government’s functions, the Council of Ministers has decided that, in the future, all formal requests of any member of Government to leave the country to exercise official functions must be duly justified to a collective organ. Once this absence is authorized, the member of Government must, after his/her return, present a summary report, to the Council of Ministers, on the result of this travel.
3. Marine Site Investigation for Timor-Leste LNG in Beaço
Following the decision made in the previous meeting (of 10 November) to materialize the logistics support base for oil exploration in the southern coast of the country, the Council of Ministers has attributed the detailed study on the maritime conditions in Beaço, for the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), to the Toke-EGS Joint Venture, which obtained the best result in the respective international public tender.
The Council of Ministers also analyzed:
1. UNMIT Transition
The Council of Ministers received UNMIT representatives, including the Special Representative for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ameraah Haq, to know of the plans to organize the withdrawal of the United Nations Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) from the country, programmed for the years 2011 and 2012, taking into account the 2012 elections. The transition of responsibilities for national authorities which are still assumed by UNMIT, requires planning, organization and coordination between both parties – UN and the Government of the Republic of Timor-Leste – so that this withdrawal may process in a structured way, in order to mitigate possible effects that may derive from this exit, which will take place during the next 2 years. In this sense, the Council of Ministers has decided the establishment of focal points (from UNMIT and the Government) to form a Steering Committee which will plan and develop the transition.
2. Law Proposal for the Organic Law of the Chamber of Auditors of the Administrative, Fiscal and Auditors High Court
The High Institutions for Control promote transparency in public accounting, where their responsibility is also to ensure the responsibility for the accounts rendered. In this context, this Law proposal has been drafted, aiming to create the Chamber of Auditors of the Administrative, Fiscal and Auditor High Court, following the 2011-2030 Strategic Plan for the Justice Sector, approved this year by the Counsel of Justice Coordination and by the Council of Ministers.
While this Court is not created, all the powers that are attributed to it by the Constitution, are exercised by the Maximum Judicial Instance existent in Timor-Leste, or in other words, the Court of Appeals. It is through the strength of this constitutional framework that the Court of Appeals has to accommodate the Chamber of Auditors of the Administrative, Fiscal and Auditors High Court, until the latter is formally created.
3. Situation of the Students in Jogjakarta, Indonesia
The Council of Ministers evaluated the situation of the Timorese students in Jogjakarta, Indonesia, arriving at the conclusion that the danger is already quite reduced. However, taking into account the possibility of the existence of new eruptions of the Krakatau, Merapi and Bromo volcanoes, the Government decided to set up an interministerial prevention mechanism (involving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education) who, in cooperation with the Indonesian authorities and the students, can act, in the future, in accordance with the situation on the ground.
4. Presentation of the Proposal of Amendment of the Electoral Law for the National Parliament
This project for the amendment of Law no. 6 / 2006, intends to modify procedural issues in order to improve the law, having present the parliamentary elections that will occur in 2012, namely the systematization of the candidacy processes to this election.
5. Presentation of the proposal Amendment to the Law of the Electoral Administration Organs
The objective of the proposal for the First Amendment to the Law no. 5 / 2006, is to adjust the current situation of the electoral administrative organs, to the timorese reality. This adjustment need comes from the experience obtained in the elections carried out up to now, in the country.
