Nicolau Lobato Presidential Palace, Dili, 19 September 2019
The President of the Republic Francisco Guterres Lú Olo, in a meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Dionísio Babo, said that he does not want to keep the new ambassadors from being sworn in and, as supreme leader of diplomacy, he asked the government to revise the list of ambassadors who are yet to be sworn in.
In a press statement after the meeting, Minister Dionísio Babo said that he received assurances from the Head of State as this is an issue of concern to the State and added that, immediately after the first meeting with the Head of State, adjustments were made to the said list and submitted to the Cabinet for approval. Also according to Dionísio Babo, it is up to the President of the Republic to make the final decision, according to the Constitution.
Out of the 16 ambassadors appointed by the Government, only three have already been sworn in, namely Olimpio Branco as ambassador to Brazil, Isilio Coelho to the United States, and Lisualdo Gaspar to New Zealand.
Dionísio Babo also said that he asked the President for his opinion on the message to be delivered to the UN General Assembly. Since the National Parliament decided not to give assent to the Head of State’s trip to New York, the President will not be able deliver his message. However, he mentioned that it would be important to talk about the country’s contribution as far as climate change is concerned as well as universal access to healthcare and a high-quality education.
The 74th session of the UN General Assembly in New York will be attended by the heads of State of 164 countries. This year’s General Assembly will focus mainly on climate change, financing for development, health, voluntary national reports, and sustainable development goals.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs also took the opportunity to talk about the visit of the ASEAN exploratory mission which took place between 3 and 7 September with the aim of seeing first-hand the National Authority’s commitment as far as joining ASEAN is concerned.
The Head of State pointed out that Timor-Leste’s aspiration to join ASEAN goes back a long way, which is why its accession requires everyone’s best efforts.
PR MEDIA