DILI, 24 March 2020 (TATOLI) – The office of President Francisco Guterres Lú-Olo said he is ready to sign a state of emergency declaration to grant the government sweeping new powers to tackle Covid-19.
In a statement after meetings with the State Council (KE) and the Superior Council for Defence and Security (KSDS), the Chief of the Presidential Palace, Francisco Maria de Vascocelos said the president is ready to support the declaration.
Related news: Government Flags Restrictions on Movement, Gatherings to Battle Covid-19
“If the National Parliament approves, the President of the Republic declares a state of emergency through a presidential decree,” he said in the press release in Tetum.
The President is required by law to send any state of emergency declaration to parliament for debate. That debate “should not exceed one day”, the Council of Ministers said yesterday.
“Today or tomorrow, [Lú-Olo] will send it to parliament because it is urgent,” he said.
In a statement, yesterday, the President acknowledged that a state of emergency “implies taking measures that limit or suspend the exercise of fundamental rights, freedoms and guarantees” provided for by the Constitution.
“The government believes the declaration of a state of emergency will make it possible to fight and curb the spread of the novel coronavirus and that it should be set to last for one month,” the statement read.
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Under the declaration, the government would have the power to control people’s movement and forcibly quarantine people suspected of having the virus.
Attendees at the KE meeting:
– Francisco Guterres Lú Olo, President of Timor-Leste
– Taur Matan Ruak, Prime Minister
-Arão Noé, President of the National Parliament
– José Ramos-Horta, former President of Timor-Leste
– Rui Araújo, former Prime Minister and Minister for Health
– Daninha Coelho, Infectionologist
– Daniel Santos, Executive Director of FONGTIL
– Delegates nominated by President Lú-Olo: Oscar Lima, Alcino de Araújo Barris, Maria Dadi Soares Magno, Laura Soares Abrantes, Faustino da Costa
– Delegates nomination by the National Parliament: Eduardo de Deus ‘Dusae’, Aurora Ximenes, José Cornelio Guterres, Árcangelo de Jesus Gouveia Leite, and José dos Santos ‘Naimori Bucar’
Attendees at the KSDS meeting:
– President Lú-Olo
– Prime Minister Taur
– Dionísio Babo-Soares, Foreign Minister
– Filomeno Paixão, Defence Minister and Minister of the Interior
– Manuel Carceres, Justice Minister
– MPs: Aderito Hugo da Costa, David Dias Ximenes
– Lere Anan Timur, Major-General of F-FDTL
– Faustino da Costa, PNTL Commissioner
– José Manuel Fernandes ‘Nakfilak’
Read the original Tetum here: Bainhira PN Autoriza, Xefe Estadu Sei Dekreta Estadu Emerjénsia
Journalist: Cipriano Colo
Editors: Robert Baird; Cancio Ximenes
Translation: Nelia Borges
