1975 Council of Ministers of East Timor

1975 Council of Ministers
Inaugural (Fretilin) cabinet of East Timor
Memorial to the Council of Ministers in 2022
Date formed	1 December 1975 (1975-12-01)
People and organisations
President	Francisco Xavier do Amaral
Prime Minister	Nicolau dos Reis Lobato
Member parties	Fretilin
History
Predecessor	Portuguese colonial government
Successor	Indonesian occupied East Timor (1976–1999) I UNTAET Transitional Government (2000)

The 1975 Council of Ministers (Portuguese: Conselho de Ministros, Tetum: Konsellu Ministrus) was the Council of Ministers formed by the Fretilin political party in 1975 as the inaugural administration or cabinet of the Democratic Republic of East Timor proclaimed in November 1975.

History

On 28 November 1975, Fretilin made a unilateral declaration of independence of East Timor from Portuguese colonial rule. On 30 November 1975, the party caused a "Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (RDTL)" to be read out at an inauguration ceremony for Francisco Xavier do Amaral as the newly appointed President of its new republic.[1]

Article 40 of the new constitution provided for the establishment of a Council of Ministers. On 1 December 1975, Fretilin inaugurated that body.[2]

By that time, however, Indonesian armed forces had infiltrated significant parts of the territory of East Timor, especially in what is now the Bobonaro Municipality, adjacent to the border with Indonesian West Timor.[3] Just under a week later, on 7 December 1975, Indonesia began a full-scale invasion of East Timor, focused on Dili, the capital of the territory.[4]

On 17 December 1975, Indonesia then brought about a de facto usurpation of Fretilin's Council of Ministers, by forming a Provisional Government of East Timor (PGET) (Indonesian: Pemerintah Sementara Timor Timur (PSTT)) headed by Arnaldo dos Reis Araújo [de] of the Timorese Popular Democratic Association (Portuguese: Associação Popular Democratica Timorense, APODETI) and Francisco Lopes da Cruz [de] of the Timorese Democratic Union (Portuguese: União Democrática Timorense, UDT).[5]

Composition

The Council of Ministers was made up of Ministers and Vice Ministers, as follows:[6][7][8][9]

Ministers

Party		Minister	Portrait	Portfolio
	Fretilin	Nicolau dos Reis Lobato		Prime Minister
	Independent	José Gonçalves [de]		Minister of Economic Coordination and Statistics
	Fretilin	Juvenal Maria de Fátima Inácio Sera Key [de]		Minister of Finance
	Fretilin	Eduardo Carlos dos Anjos Kaku'uk		Minister of Public Works, Transport and Communications
	Fretilin	Rogerio Lobato		Minister of National Defense
	Fretilin	Alarico Fernandes		Minister of Information, Home Affairs and Security[10]
	Fretilin	António Duarte Carvarino Mau Lear [de]		Minister of Justice
	Fretilin	José Ramos-Horta		Minister of Foreign Affairs
	Fretilin	Vicente dos Reis Bie Ky Sahe [de]		Minister of Labor
	Fretilin	Hamis Bin Umar Bassarewan Hata [de]		Minister of Education and Culture
	Fretilin	Mari Alkatiri		Minister of Political Affairs
	Fretilin	Abílio Araújo [de]		Minister of Economic and Social Affairs

Vice Ministers

Party		Minister	Portrait	Portfolio
	Fretilin	Hélio Sanches Pina Mau Kruma [de]		Vice Minister of Economic Coordination and Statistics
	Fretilin	Domingos da Costa Ribeiro [de]		Vice Minister of Public Works, Transport and Communications
	Fretilin	Hermenegildo Augusto Pereira Alves [de]		Vice Minister of Defense[11]
	Fretilin	Guido Diamantino Soares Kakeu [de]		Vice Minister of Defense[11]
	Fretilin	Fernando de Almeida do Carmo [de]		Vice Minister of Information, Home Affairs and Security
	Fretilin	Guilhermina L.S. de Araújo Bimali [de]		Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs
	Fretilin	Guido Valadares		Vice Minister of Labor and Social Welfare[12]
	Fretilin	Eduardo Ximenes [de]		Vice Minister of Health[13]

See also

• Proclamation of Independence Day

References

Notes

1. Chega! Part 3 2005, pp. 53–56.
2. Chega! Part 3 2005, p. 56.
3. Jolliffe 1978, pp. 164, 167–179 and 201–207.
4. Martin 2001, p. 16.
5. Schwarz 1994, p. 204.
6. "República Democrática de Timor Leste: Elenco Governamental" (PDF). Jornal do Povo Mau Bere (Extra): 1. 4 December 1975. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
7. Fox 2004.
8. "Decreto do Presidente da República Número 54/2006 de 17 de Novembro de 2006 Condecorações a atribuir aos Combatentes da Libertação Nacional a 28 de Novembro de 2006" (PDF). Jornal da República (in Portuguese). 1 (22). Government of East Timor: 1613. 17 November 2006. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
9. "Decreto do Presidente da República Número 54/2006 de 17 de Novembro de 2006 Condecorações a atribuir aos Combatentes da Libertação Nacional a 28 de Novembro de 2006 / Decreto do Presidente da República Número 56/2006 de 5 de Dezembro de 2006" (PDF). Jornal da República (in Portuguese). 1 (22). Government of East Timor: 1612–1616. 20 December 2006. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
10. Chega! Part 3 2005, pp. 65, 76-77 and 80.
11. Chega! Part 5 2005, p. 7.
12. "Dili National Hospital Renamed". Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (East Timor). UNMISET. 30 June 2003. Archived from the original on 8 November 2003. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
13. "Ministry of Health inaugurates the Regional Hospital of Baucau". Government of Timor-Leste. 25 January 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2022.

Bibliography

• Fox, James J. (2004). "FRETILIN (Frente Revolucionária do Timor-Leste Independente)". In Ooi, Keat Gin (ed.). Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopedia, from Angkor Wat to East Timor. Santa Barbara, CA, USA: ABC-CLIO. pp. 522–523. ISBN 1576077705.
• Jolliffe, Jill (1978). East Timor: Nationalism and Colonialism. St. Lucia, Qld: University of Queensland Press. ISBN 0702214809.
• Martin, Ian (2001). Self-determination in East Timor: the United Nations, the ballot, and international intervention. Boulder, CO, USA: Lynne Rienner Publishers. ISBN 158826033X.
• Schwarz, A. (1994). A Nation in Waiting: Indonesia in the 1990s. Boulder, CO, USA: Westview Press. ISBN 1863736352.
• "Part 3: The History of the Conflict" (PDF). Chega! The Report of the Commission for Reception, Truth, and Reconciliation Timor-Leste. Dili: Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor. 2005. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
• "Part 5: Resistance: Structure and Strategy" (PDF). Chega! The Report of the Commission for Reception, Truth, and Reconciliation Timor-Leste. Dili: Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor. 2005. Retrieved 13 January 2022.