Prime Minister (East Timor)

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The Prime Minister's Office in Dili

The Prime Minister ( tetum Primeiru-Ministru , Portuguese Primeiro-Ministro ) is the head of government of East Timor (Timor-Leste) and chairman of the Council of Ministers . The Prime Minister's official seat is the government palace in Dili .

After the parliamentary elections, the president gives a prime minister-designate, who usually has the majority of a party or coalition in parliament , the task of forming a government . This government then has to present its government program to the national parliament within 30 days. If this is rejected by the majority of MPs, the government can submit a second program. If this is also rejected, the government has failed. The president can then appoint someone else to form a government or dissolve parliament and call for new elections. The latter happened in 2018.

Nicolau dos Reis Lobato (November 28, 1975 - September 1977)

After independence from Portugal was proclaimed on November 28, 1975, Nicolau dos Reis Lobato ( FRETILIN ) was appointed Prime Minister. But just nine days later, Indonesia occupied the young country. The government had to flee into the mountains and Lobato was appointed commander of the FRETILIN's military arm, the FALINTIL . After the previous President Francisco Xavier do Amaral was dismissed , Lobato was appointed as his successor in September 1977. Lobato was killed on December 31, 1978.

António Mau Lear Duarte Carvarino (October 1977 - February 1979)

António Mau Lear Duarte Carvarino was appointed the new Prime Minister in October 1977, but was captured and killed by Indonesian troops in February 1979.

Marí Alkatiri (May 20, 2002 - June 26, 2006)

Marí Bin Amude Alkatiri (2002)

In the elections for the constituent assembly on August 30, 2001 , FRETILIN won 55 of the 88 seats. The assembly became the national parliament when independence was achieved on May 20, 2002, and Marí Bin Amude Alkatiri was the first prime minister after the Indonesian occupation . He was decried as a cold technocrat by the local population and resented the fact that he was in exile in Mozambique during the occupation . On December 4, 2002, students protesting set fire to his house. In terms of foreign policy, he sought rapprochement (militarily, as economically) to the People's Republic of China and the left-wing states of South America, which brought him into conflict with President Xanana Gusmão .

Alkatiri was also blamed for the 2006 riots that broke out in East Timor . There were calls for his resignation, but initially there was a government reshuffle that had two of his most important ministers to leave. In addition, a power struggle broke out between Alkatiri and President Gusmão, with Alkatiri relying on the police and Gusmão on the support of most of the army. Gusmão's demands that Alkatiri resign were initially rejected by the ruling party, while the popular Foreign Minister José Ramos-Horta and the Minister of Transport protested and resigned from their political offices on June 25. Finally, on June 26, 2006, Alkatiri declared that he wanted to take responsibility for the political crisis and resigned.

José Ramos-Horta (July 10, 2006 - May 19, 2007)

José Ramos Horta

On July 8, 2006, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Foreign Minister José Ramos-Horta was appointed Alkatiri's successor and sworn in on July 10. He had already held the post temporarily after Alkatiri's resignation. Ramos-Horta has been non-party since leaving FRETILIN in 1988. Minister of Agriculture Estanislau da Silva (FRETILIN) and Minister of Health Rui Maria de Araújo were deputies . Since Ramos-Horta won the 2007 presidential election , he resigned as prime minister and defense minister on May 19, 2007, one day before he was sworn in as president (East Timor) .

Estanislau da Silva (May 19, 2007 - August 8, 2007)

Estanislau da Silva

Until the election of the new parliament, the previous Deputy Prime Minister Estanislau da Silva took over the office of Prime Minister. On the day of his appointment, the FRETILIN member dismissed Foreign Minister José Luís Guterres .

Xanana Gusmão (August 8, 2007 - February 16, 2015)

Xanana Gusmão

In the parliamentary elections on June 30, 2007 , no party was able to win an absolute majority in parliament. With 21 of the 65 seats, FRETILIN was the strongest force, but it was unable to win any coalition partners. Finally, the contract to form a government was given to former President Xanana Gusmão. His CNRT only had 18 seats, but Gusmão was able to form a coalition with PD and Coligação ASDT / PSD , the Aliança da Maioria parliamentar ("Alliance of Parliamentary Majorities"), which had 37 members in parliament.

On February 11, 2008, an assassination attempt on Gusmão failed. The prime minister escaped unharmed.

In the parliamentary elections on July 7, 2012 , the CNRT received 30 seats, the FRETILIN 25 seats, the PD eight seats and the Frenti-Mudança (FM) two seats. The other parties and alliances failed because of the three percent hurdle. CNRT, PD and Frenti-Mudança form a government coalition, FRETILIN is the only opposition party. Gusmão was confirmed as prime minister.

On February 5, 2015, Gusmão announced his resignation in a letter to President Taur Matan Ruak and proposed Rui Maria de Araújo as his successor. The president accepted the resignation and tasked Araújo with the formation of a new government.

Rui Maria de Araújo (February 16, 2015 - September 15, 2017)

Rui Maria de Araújo (2015)

Rui Maria de Araújo was sworn in on February 16, 2015. He was a member of the previous opposition party FRETILIN. His new cabinet now included members of all parties represented in parliament (CNRT, FRETILIN, PD, FM) in addition to non-party members. Araújo was the first Prime Minister of East Timor who did not belong to the 1975 generation of independence fighters.

Marí Alkatiri (September 15, 2017– June 22, 2018)

Marí Alkatiri (2017)

Alkatiri was reappointed Prime Minister by President Francisco Guterres on September 14 and charged with forming a government. The first members of the VII constitutional government of East Timor were introduced and sworn in on September 15, 2017. Alkatiris FRETILIN had signed a coalition agreement with the PD on September 13th. The alliance only had 30 of the 65 seats in the parliament elected on July 22nd . The originally planned third coalition partner KHUNTO did not sign the contract at the last minute due to internal disputes and allied itself with the other opposition parties against Alkatiri's government. Since neither the government program nor a budget could be passed, President Francisco Guterres dissolved parliament on January 26, 2018 and announced new elections.

Taur Matan Ruak (since June 22, 2018)

Taur Matan Ruak (2018)

Taur Matan Ruak was sworn in on June 22, 2018. He first led a coalition government of the Aliança para Mudança e Progresso (AMP), which consisted of the CNRT, the Partidu Libertasaun Popular (PLP) of Taur Matan Ruak and the Kmanek Haburas Unidade Nasional Timor Oan (KHUNTO). After the coalition broke up, Taur Matan Ruak submitted his resignation as prime minister on February 25, 2020. He was only to remain in office until the new government took office. Due to the impending COVID-19 pandemic , Taur Matan Ruak withdrew his resignation on April 8, in consultation with President Francisco Guterres . FRETILIN, PLP and KHUNTO formed a new government coalition.

The previous head of cabinet Afonso Henriques Ferreira Corte-Real was replaced by Azevedo Marçal on August 10, 2020 .

See also

Web links

Commons : Prime Minister of East Timors  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Rui Graça Feijó: Timor-Leste: is Díli on (Political) Fire Again? , Presidental Power, December 11, 2017 , accessed December 11, 2017.
  2. ↑ Timor Hau Nian Doben ( Lusa ): Partidos da coligação informados que Rui Araújo é o novo PM timorense , February 5, 2015 , accessed on February 5, 2015.
  3. ↑ Sapo Notícias ( Lusa ): Novo PM "sereno, calmo e otimista" no dia da tomada de posse , February 16, 2015 , accessed on February 16, 2015.
  4. ↑ SAPO: VII Governo constitucional de Timor-Leste toma hoje posse incompleto , September 15, 2017, accessed on September 15, 2017.
  5. ↑ Timor Agora: Deputadu Foun Balun Komesa Falta , September 13, 2017 , accessed on September 13, 2017.