Frente Revolucionária do Timor-Leste Independente (FRETILIN)
Media Release
Dili, Sunday, January 18, 2009
Civil society and parliamentarians in Timor-Leste have again united to rebuff de facto Prime Minister Gusmao’s latest move to grab more funds from the nation’s Petroleum Fund – this time more than US$181 million.
Timor-Leste's parliamentary Economics, Finance and Anti-Corruption Committee (Committee C), the country's independent Petroleum Fund Consultative Council that advises the parliament on the nation's oil fund and a coalition of civil society groups, are adamantly opposed to Gusmao's latest grab. The Petroleum Fund was established by the former FRETILIN government in 2005.
The parliamentary committee, which is composed of MPs from all political parties represented in Timor-Leste's national parliament, also recommended that the government does not need more than US$511.4 million.
“This US$511.4 million is the sustainable income that can be taken from the Fund of US407 million, and an unspent amount from the previous 2008 budget,” said Aniceto Guterres, FRETILIN's leader in the parliament, speaking to journalists in Dili last Friday.
“The report from Committee C was unanimous, including members of Gusmao’s AMP coalition. The parliament’s own consultative council also recommended to the parliament that the government should be stopped from grabbing in excess of what the law permits as being sustainable for the future well being of the fund,” said Guterres.
“Civil society submitted the same view to Committee C during public hearings on this proposed budget. This is becoming all too reminiscent of the debate which raged during the parliamentary sittings to consider the mid-year budget last year, which was partly struck down by the Court of Appeal for exactly the same reasons as are being put forward by Committee C, the Council and civil society as being unconstitutional and illegal,” he explained.
“When will Gusmao and his allies in the parliament learn that this is the law and they should not keep trying to flout it? They have failed again to justify that the extra money they are grabbing from the Fund is sustainable or that it would be spent sustainably for the good of the people. If we have to we will go back to the courts. But wouldn't it be better for us to learn from the past,” Guterres said.
FRETILIN has repeatedly stated that if the de facto government puts forward a budget that is pro-poor and pro-human development, and not just aimed at fattening political and economic elites in the country and outside, then FRETILIN would have to give due consideration to supporting it because it would reflect FRETILIN’s policies.
“We are not against spending money for the people, but it needs to be focused on eradicating poverty, for real human development, based on a national development plan such as we had, and on programs and action plans aimed at meeting those human development and poverty eradication objectives.
“But they will also have to show political will and not just rhetoric to combat collusion, corruption and nepotism, and other forms of budgetary waste. They will need to show us that they have a program for sustainable human and economic development, which we do not see right now. After two huge budgets, we were told yesterday by the de facto Prime Minister that it will not be until September this year before the government comes up with a ‘strategic plan’ for the country. So what have they been working to thus far? Nothing, that’s what,” added Guterres.
FRETILIN and other parties in the parliament are very concerned with the state of public finances in the country. According to Guterres, parliament has not even had access to a report on the surplus from the 2008 budget, which should have been delivered by now.
“We also know that as at 9 January 2009, the de facto Finance Minister, Emilia Pires, wrote to the Prime Minister seeking his urgent interference to recover more than US$8 million outstanding from government ministries for advances made for expenditure. “These were due some time ago and the Minister is obviously concerned about the lack of justification for this very large amount of public funds. Now she wants some more without even reporting to us on this as she should have? We would not be acting with the responsibility expected by our people if were to let this continue,” said Guterres in closing.
For information contact José Teixeira M.P. on +670 728 7080
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