(Photo: Timor Roman_Calisto da Costa, 2017)
December 11th, 2017
The results of the 2017 Parliamentary Election showed the no party had won an absolute majority that would have allowed it to form a Government alone. This outcome therefore required the formation of a coalition to obtain a majority in the National Parliament and establish a government. FRETILIN, the party with the largest number of votes, led the negotiations to form the Government. The negotiations lasted more than two months after the Appellate Court officially published the election results. FRETILIN managed to finalize a coalition with the Democratic Party (PD) on 13 September 2017 and indicated FRETILIN Secretary-General Dr. Mari Alkatiri as Prime Minister of the 7th Constitutional Government. Finally, the President of the Republic named Dr. Mari Alkatiri as Prime Minister on 14 September 2017 and he was inaugurated on 15 September 2017.
Discussions and controversies subsequently emerged, primarily focusing on the fact that the Government only had the support of thirty members of Parliament and therefore lacked a majority. In response to this situation, the opposition parties—the CNRT, PLP, and KHUNTO—declared a Parliamentary Majority Alliance (AMP) with 35 seats before the Government had even brought its program to the National Parliament. The opposition parties claim that the AMP will become the new government as an alternative government when the current Government falls. The opposition parties demonstrated their position by rejecting the Government’s program in October 2017.
This report therefore presents possible scenarios in the event of the Government’s resignation or the dissolution of the National Parliament.
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Nélson Belo
Executive Director
Email: direktor.mahein@gmail.com
Phone: (+670) 78316075 or 77561184
Website: www.fundasaunmahein.org
