Minister of Defense (East Timor)

East Timorese government minister

Ministro da Defesa (Portuguese)
Ministru Defeza (Tetum)

Coat of Arms of East Timor

Flag of East Timor

Incumbent
Pedro Klamar Fuik [de]

since 1 July 2023

Ministry of DefenseStyle

Minister
(informal)
His Excellency
(formal, diplomatic)

Member ofthe governmentReports toPrime ministerAppointerPresident
(following proposal by the Prime minister)Formation1975 / 2005First holder

Rogerio Lobato
(1975)
Roque Félix Rodrigues
(2005)

WebsiteOfficial website

The Minister of Defense (Portuguese: Ministro da Defesa, Tetum: Ministru Defeza) is a senior member of the Constitutional Government of East Timor heading the Ministry of Defense.

Functions

Under the Constitution of East Timor, the Minister has the power and the duty:

to implement the policy defined for the Ministry of Defense;
to ensure relations between the Government and the other organs of the State in the area of responsibility of the Ministry.^[1]

Where the Minister is in charge of the subject matter of a government statute, the Minister is also required, together with the Prime Minister, to sign the statute.^[1]

Incumbent

The incumbent Minister of Defense is Pedro Klamar Fuik [de].^[2]^[3]

List of ministers

The following individuals have been appointed as the minister:

No.		Minister	Title	Government (Prime Minister)	Term start	Term end	Term in office
1	Fretilin	Rogerio Lobato	Minister of National Defense	1975 CoM (Lobato)	1 December 1975	17 December 1975	16 days
1975–1999: Indonesian occupation of East Timor
2	Independent	Roque Félix Rodrigues	Minister of Defence	I Constitutional (Alkatiri)	26 July 2005	1 June 2006	310 days
(acting)		José Ramos-Horta		I Constitutional (Alkatiri)	1 June 2006	10 June 2006	9 days
3		José Ramos-Horta		II Constitutional (Ramos-Horta)	10 July 2006	19 May 2007	313 days
4	Fretilin	Estanislau da Silva		III Constitutional (da Silva)	19 May 2007	8 August 2007	81 days
5	CNRT	Xanana Gusmão	Minister of Defense	IV Constitutional (Gusmão)	8 August 2007	8 August 2012	7 years, 192 days
5		Xanana Gusmão	Minister of Defence and Security	V Constitutional (Gusmão)	8 August 2012	16 February 2015	7 years, 192 days
6		Cirilo Cristóvão	Minister of Defence	VI Constitutional (Araújo)	16 February 2015	3 October 2017	2 years, 229 days
7	Fretilin	Agostinho Sequeira Somotxo	Minister of Defence and Security	VII Constitutional (Alkatiri)	3 October 2017	22 June 2018	262 days
8	Independent	Filomeno da Paixão de Jesus	Minister of Defense	VIII Constitutional (Ruak)	22 June 2018	1 July 2023	5 years, 9 days
9	Independent	Pedro Klamar Fuik [de]	Minister of Defense	IX Constitutional (Gusmão)	1 July 2023	Incumbent	1 year, 54 days

References

^ ^a ^b "Constitution of East Timor, Section 117" (PDF). Government of Timor-Leste. 20 May 2002. Retrieved 25 March 2022. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ Martins, Filomeno (30 June 2023). "The list of structure of IX Constitutional Government announced in Official Gazette". Tatoli. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
^ Sousa, Nelson de (1 July 2023). "PR Horta sei akompaña serbisu IX Governu" [President Horta will accompany the work of the IX Government] (in Tetum). Tatoli. Retrieved 1 July 2023.