The leaders of the benches of the Timorese national parliament today decided to set June 22 for the inauguration of their successors, elected last month, parliamentary sources confirmed.
The parliamentary sources explained to Lusa that the decision was taken at a meeting of the bench leaders that lasted more than two and a half hours, where representatives of the majority parties advocated for a later inauguration.
Duarte Nunes, CNRT (National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction) bench leader, confirmed that the decision of June 22 was possible, explaining that the benches of the current outgoing majority insisted on taking office much later, in September.
“That was the decision taken at the leaders’ meeting. For us, it is an acceptable date and better than dragging it out until September,” he said.
Parliament’s rules state that newly elected parliamentarians must take office no later than 15 days after the Court of Appeal’s ruling validating the election results.
This ruling is dated June 5 but was only published in the Official Gazette today, and 15 days from today is May 21.
The date agreed upon today is ten days later than the President of the Republic, José Ramos-Horta, had requested from the President of Parliament, Aniceto Guterres Lopes, during their meeting today at the Presidential Palace.
With information from Lusa
News East Timor, English news East Timor, Timorese politics