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LIAM COCHRANE – ABC RADIO AUSTRALIA NEWS – 01 october 2010
East Timor's deputy prime minister and foreign minister have been indicted over corruption allegations and are set to be suspended from parliament to face charges in court.
Deputy PM Jose Luis Guterres and foreign minister, Zacarias da Costa have been investigated over the appointment of Mr Guterres' wife as counsel to East Timor's UN Ambassador in New York.
Last year, East Timor's ombudsman found Mr Guterres had engaged in mal-administration, including indications of collusion and nepotism and broke a number of anti-corruption laws, when he appointed his wife, and significantly raised her salary.
The foreign minister, Zacarias da Costa, is accused of signing off on the arrangement.
The Prime Minister informed Parliament about the indictments but there was initial confusion about whether the men would be automatically suspended or whether the Parliament would have to vote.
Independent MP, Fernanda Borges, says the President of the Parliament has received clarification on the matter.
"The prime minister has confirmed to him that he will be suspending through notification only," she said.
"The parliament is no longer required to vote on this particular issue...if it is an automatic suspension."
A spokesman for the Timorese government confirmed the suspensions but there will be a vote in Parliament about when they come into effect.
If the vote to suspend the two men from parliament is successful, they will lose their Parliamentary immunity.
The two men have been in New York, representing East Timor at the UN General Assembly.
Clarify the issue
The foreign minister, Zacarias da Costa, issued a statement from New York.
In the statement he said "it was with interest that I learned about this latest development. However, I will await, with serenity, the progress of the judicial process."
He says the appointment of Mr Guterres' wife was made under a previous government and cancelled after Mr da Costa took over as foreign minister.
"It is my intention to fully cooperate with the competent judicial authority in order to clarify the issue"
"I hope that this judicial process is allowed to take its course and not become an issue for political speculation."
Mr da Costa is due back in East Timor on October 9.
Jose Luis Guterres was not available for comment, but has previously denied any wrongdoing in the matter.
Michael Leach, a lecturer at Melbourne's Swinburne University, says the two suspensions could have wider implications for East Timor's coalition government.
"It has potential implications of instability for the balance of power in the parliament. The alliance with the parliamentary majority relies on all four major parties for its majority."
"PSD, which has already lost the deputy prime minister a couple of weeks ago, is the party that Zacarias de Costa belongs to, so they will have lost two of their three ministerial positions, if he is indeed suspended as is being reported."
"Presumably that would only make more likely the risk, increase the risk that they might leave the AMP."
The AMP is the 'Parliamentary Majority Alliance' of East Timor's parliament. It holds its majority by six seats, the same number of seats held by Mr da Costa's PSD party.
Australian implications
Mr Leach says the suspension of the foreign minister could also disrupt negotiations with Australia's immigration minister Chris Bowen about setting up a regional asylum seeker processing centre in East Timor.
"Whatever relationship has been established at this point between Chris Bowen on the Australian side, and Zacarias da Costa, will have to be restarted with the new foreign minister, if indeed Zacarias da Costa is indeed suspended."
"And the second implication really goes to who would replace Zacarias da Costa. These do have some important implications, depending on which player ends up in that role and that could in fact be a signal from the Timorese government about how they are treating the negotiation."
Australia wants to set up a facility in East Timor where asylum seekers will be detained while their applications are processed.
The proposal initially received a lukewarm reception in Dili, but discussions have been continuing on the issue.
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LIAM COCHRANE – ABC RADIO AUSTRALIA NEWS – 01 october 2010
East Timor's deputy prime minister and foreign minister have been indicted over corruption allegations and are set to be suspended from parliament to face charges in court.
Deputy PM Jose Luis Guterres and foreign minister, Zacarias da Costa have been investigated over the appointment of Mr Guterres' wife as counsel to East Timor's UN Ambassador in New York.
Last year, East Timor's ombudsman found Mr Guterres had engaged in mal-administration, including indications of collusion and nepotism and broke a number of anti-corruption laws, when he appointed his wife, and significantly raised her salary.
The foreign minister, Zacarias da Costa, is accused of signing off on the arrangement.
The Prime Minister informed Parliament about the indictments but there was initial confusion about whether the men would be automatically suspended or whether the Parliament would have to vote.
Independent MP, Fernanda Borges, says the President of the Parliament has received clarification on the matter.
"The prime minister has confirmed to him that he will be suspending through notification only," she said.
"The parliament is no longer required to vote on this particular issue...if it is an automatic suspension."
A spokesman for the Timorese government confirmed the suspensions but there will be a vote in Parliament about when they come into effect.
If the vote to suspend the two men from parliament is successful, they will lose their Parliamentary immunity.
The two men have been in New York, representing East Timor at the UN General Assembly.
Clarify the issue
The foreign minister, Zacarias da Costa, issued a statement from New York.
In the statement he said "it was with interest that I learned about this latest development. However, I will await, with serenity, the progress of the judicial process."
He says the appointment of Mr Guterres' wife was made under a previous government and cancelled after Mr da Costa took over as foreign minister.
"It is my intention to fully cooperate with the competent judicial authority in order to clarify the issue"
"I hope that this judicial process is allowed to take its course and not become an issue for political speculation."
Mr da Costa is due back in East Timor on October 9.
Jose Luis Guterres was not available for comment, but has previously denied any wrongdoing in the matter.
Michael Leach, a lecturer at Melbourne's Swinburne University, says the two suspensions could have wider implications for East Timor's coalition government.
"It has potential implications of instability for the balance of power in the parliament. The alliance with the parliamentary majority relies on all four major parties for its majority."
"PSD, which has already lost the deputy prime minister a couple of weeks ago, is the party that Zacarias de Costa belongs to, so they will have lost two of their three ministerial positions, if he is indeed suspended as is being reported."
"Presumably that would only make more likely the risk, increase the risk that they might leave the AMP."
The AMP is the 'Parliamentary Majority Alliance' of East Timor's parliament. It holds its majority by six seats, the same number of seats held by Mr da Costa's PSD party.
Australian implications
Mr Leach says the suspension of the foreign minister could also disrupt negotiations with Australia's immigration minister Chris Bowen about setting up a regional asylum seeker processing centre in East Timor.
"Whatever relationship has been established at this point between Chris Bowen on the Australian side, and Zacarias da Costa, will have to be restarted with the new foreign minister, if indeed Zacarias da Costa is indeed suspended."
"And the second implication really goes to who would replace Zacarias da Costa. These do have some important implications, depending on which player ends up in that role and that could in fact be a signal from the Timorese government about how they are treating the negotiation."
Australia wants to set up a facility in East Timor where asylum seekers will be detained while their applications are processed.
The proposal initially received a lukewarm reception in Dili, but discussions have been continuing on the issue.
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