23 October 2017

National Parliament Debate on VII Government Program ends with approval of rejection motion

East Timor National Parliament
East Timor National Parliament
East Timor National Parliament !WARNING MACHINE TRANSLATION ORIGINAL TEXT AT EAST TIMOR NATIONAL PARLIAMENT! The debate on the Evaluation of the Program of the 7th Constitutional Government, by the National Parliament of Timor-Leste, ended this Thursday, October 19, 2017.

On this fourth day, the debate continued with various interventions and questions asked by the honorable Members and with the answers and explanations by the Prime Minister and members of the Government. At the end of the day, when the interventions were exhausted, a Motion for Rejection of the Government Program was presented, which was voted and approved.

At the start of this day of debate, the President of Parliament announced the times each bank still had for its interventions. Since the PLP and KHUNTO benches were already in short supply, the CNRT counterpart reported that, according to the established rules, they gave 20 minutes of their time to each of these benches.



In the morning there was a first session of five speeches by Members, followed by the replies and clarifications of Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri.

During the period of government responses, the Minister of State and Minister of Mineral Resources, Mariano Assanami Sabino, the Prime Minister, Mari Alkatiri, and Minister of State and Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Estanislau da Silva, spoke.

At this point in the debate, as the DP bench had exhausted its time, the Fretilin Workbench reported that it gave 20 minutes of its time to this bench.

A second session followed by five speeches by Members.

To this second session of questions and comments, answered the Prime Minister and the Minister of State and Minister of Health, Rui Maria de Araújo.

In the afternoon, the session began with a speech by a Member, and with replies from the Prime Minister and the Minister of Planning and Finance, Rui Gomes.

Following these replies from the executive, the President of Parliament announced that there were no further requests for Members' intervention in the Bureau.

At that moment, the CNRT's counterpart reported that it was going to file a motion to reject the Government Program. This motion was endorsed by the presidents of the CNRT, PLP and KHUNTO.

The President of Parliament then adjourned the session for 30 minutes so that the Bureau could check the document.

Once the session resumed, the benches decided to use the time still available and continue to make interventions. At this stage, the interventions were only from the parliamentary benches of the DP and Fretilin.

After the speeches had been taken, the President of Parliament announced that the debate had been closed and that he would immediately consider the Motion for Rejection. For this phase, the Bureau granted 10 minutes to each parliamentary bench, to present the motion and to pronounce on it, as well as 20 minutes to the government.

Even before this process of presentation and pronunciation on the motion, on several points of order, some Members asked for this document to be translated into Tetum, even suggesting that the vote be postponed to the next day. These requests were not accepted and the Rejection Motion was then read, in Portuguese, by the Secretary of the Board.

This was followed by the intervention of the parliamentary groups, in the following order: KHUNTO, PLP, CNRT, Fretilin and PD, with the three subscribing panels to present and justify the document, and the last two to make a critical assessment of it.

After these interventions, the government, by the voice of the Prime Minister, also made its assessment. The Evaluation of the Program of the 7th Constitutional Government, by the National Parliament of Timor-Leste, ended this Thursday, October 19, 2017, with the vote of the Motion of Rejection. The Motion of Rejection was approved with 35 votes in favor and 30 votes against.

See also on East Timor Law and Justice Bulletin
VII Constitutional Government Not So Constitutional
Government prepares to resubmit the Program to the National Parliament, respecting democracy and stability
Government faces uncertainty after Parliamentary Defeat
Timorese Security Sector CSO Fundasaun Mahein says Dili exodus begins in fear of conflict as citizens and foreigners flee
Police Commander maintains Timor-Leste tranquil during the Government program debate
Politicians call for calm after rejection of government program
Constitutional Crisis Possible as East Timor's Government strengthens security after Parliament rejects Government Program
Timorese executive reinforces security measures after rejection of the Government Program

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