FRETILIN Leader: Parliament failed to fight government corruption (Timor Post)

PN leaders allow govt to do corruption, says opposition leader - Timor-Post, 10 October

Fretilin's parliamentary leader Aniceto Guterres said last Thursday that the National Parliament under the leadership of Fernando de Araújo 'La Sama' had been allowing the AMP government to engage in corruption by being passive in not demanding the requisite level of transparency from the AMP government.

Aniceto said that the president of the parliament had not kept his own promise he had made to the people in his maiden speech when he took office, in which La Sama said he would never allow the parliament to become a mouthpiece for the government.

"The promise of the President of the Parliament has gone with the strong winds and it has left us with the reality we can all see and witness today of corruption everywhere," said Guterres.

He also said that the President, Vice Presdients and parliamentary executive had systematically made the parliament a second rate state constitutional pillar and that it has blurred the principle of separation of powers between the pillars of the state.

He added that the leadership of the parliament failed to demand that the government present documents requested on the number of national and international advisers working for the ministry of finance and also the documents for the purchase of patrol boats.

He said that the Presidency of the parliament had also totally denied the democratic rights of the opposition during the debate proceedings on the 2008 state budget.

Answering these statements, president of the National Parliament Fernando de Araújo 'La Sama' said that the parliament can never be an opposition to the government because it's the parliament that forms the government.

He said that the parliament cannot evaluate the performance of the government and that this has to be done by the public.