Lidsay Murdoch; 4/7/06; www.theage.com.au
East Timor’s ruling Fretilin party has been accused of trying to protect deposed prime minister Mari Alkatiri from prosecution. Fretilin has sought to restructure the office of the country’s top prosecutor, a move seen by opposition MPs as an attempt to quarantine Mr Alkatiri from charges.
The party angered opposition MPs yesterday at Parliament’s first sitting in weeks when it introduced a resolution to restructure the Office of Prosecutor-General within the Public Affairs Ministry. Prosecutor-General Longuinhos Monteiro last week called Mr Alkatiri to a hearing to answer questions about claims that he helped form a hit squad to eliminate rivals before elections due next year.
Mr Alkatiri failed to attend, saying his lawyer had not yet arrived from overseas. Fretilin president and parliamentary Speaker Francisco Guterres also introduced another resolution inviting Mr Alkatiri to sit in Parliament despite his resignation as prime minister. Fretilin insists this would give him immunity from prosecution.
Mr Monteiro said last night he had written a letter to Parliament asking it to waive any immunity. He told The Age that if Parliament agreed to his request he would send another summons to Mr Alkatiri to attend court. He would not comment on Fretilin’s move against his office.
Mr Monteiro earlier told reporters that Mr Alkatiri could face prosecution, depending on his answers, after former interior minister Rogerio Lobato told a hearing last month that the former prime minister had “full knowledge” of a hit squad armed with automatic weapons looted from the police armoury.
Opposition MP Joao Gonclaves last night accused Fretilin, which holds the majority of seats in Parliament, of trying to “bulldoze a resolution against the Prosecutor-General that is unconstitutional and illegal because the Prosecutor-General is independent of Parliament”.
He said that under the constitution, Mr Monteiro answered only to President Xanana Gusmao, who forced Mr Alkatiri to quit over the hit squad allegations.
Fretilin’s moves prompted angry outbursts in Parliament. “They’re manipulators,” Deputy Opposition Leader Lucia Lobato said as she pointed at the Fretilin Government benches. Ms Lobato said Fretilin wanted to axe the position of prosecutor-general. “This is an evil attempt to attack him (Mr Monteiro) and interfere with his work,” she said.
Fretilin Deputy Speaker Jacob Fernandes, whose house was burnt down by anti-Fretilin protesters last week, said the party’s only concern was to re-establish the rule of law. “The courts must not be used to persecute people politically,” he said.
Mr Alkatiri remains the key behind-the-scenes powerbroker in Fretilin, which has the right to name the next prime minister. In the past few days he has appeared at Fretilin news conferences but refused to answer questions. He briefly attended yesterday’s parliamentary hearing but left as the Fretilin resolutions were being debated.
A party source said Fretilin planned to put forward three names for prime minister. The most likely candidate is Foreign and Defence Minister Jose Ramos Horta. Fretilin had also put forward the names of Health Minister Rui Araujo, a New Zealand-trained doctor, and Agriculture Minister Eastanislau da Silva, the source said.
Mr Gusmao must approve the appointment