Minister of Defense (Timor-Leste)

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.

Minister of Defense
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 Defense
Style	Minister (informal) His Excellency (formal, diplomatic)
Member of	the government
Reports to	Prime minister
Appointer	President (following proposal by the Prime minister)
Formation	1975 / 2005
First holder	Rogerio Lobato (1975) Roque Félix Rodrigues (2005)
Website	Official website

Functions

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

1. to implement the policy defined for the Ministry of Defense;
2. 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.	Portrait	Name (born–died)	Term of office			Political party		Government (Prime minister(s))	Ref.
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
Minister of National Defence
1		Rogério Lobato (born 1949)	1 December 1975	17 December 1975	16 days		Fretilin	1975 CoM (Lobato)
1975–1999: Indonesian occupation of East Timor
Minister of Defence
2		Roque Félix Rodrigues (born 1949)	26 July 2005	1 June 2006	310 days		Independent	I Constitutional (Alkatiri)
–		José Ramos-Horta (born 1949)	1 June 2006	10 June 2006	9 days
3			10 July 2006	19 May 2007	313 days			II Constitutional (Ramos-Horta)
4		Estanislau da Silva (born 1952)	19 May 2007	8 August 2007	81 days		Fretilin	III Constitutional (da Silva)
5		Xanana Gusmão (born 1946)	8 August 2007	8 August 2012	5 years, 0 days		CNRT	IV Constitutional (Gusmão)
Minister of Defence and Security
5		Xanana Gusmão (born 1946)	8 August 2012	16 February 2015	2 years, 192 days		CNRT	V Constitutional (Gusmão)
Minister of Defence
6		Cirilo Cristóvão (1966–2019)	16 February 2015	3 October 2017	2 years, 229 days		CNRT	VI Constitutional (Araújo)
Minister of Defence and Security
7		José Agostinho Sequeira (born 1959)	3 October 2017	22 June 2018	262 days		Fretilin	VII Constitutional (Alkatiri)
Minister of Defence
8		Filomeno da Paixão de Jesus (born 1953)	22 June 2018	1 July 2023	5 years, 9 days		Independent	VIII Constitutional (Ruak)
9		Pedro Klamar Fuik [de] (born 1969)	1 July 2023	Incumbent	1 year, 185 days			IX Constitutional (Gusmão)

See also

• Timor Leste Defence Force

References

1. "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.
2. Martins, Filomeno (30 June 2023). "The list of structure of IX Constitutional Government announced in Official Gazette". Tatoli. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
3. 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.

External links

Media related to Ministers of Defence of East Timor at Wikimedia Commons

• Ministry of Defense – official site (in Tetum)