The National Parliament ( tet, Parlamentu Nasionál, pt, Parlamento Nacional) is the

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...

national legislature in

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-w ...

. It was created in 2001 as the Constituent Assembly while the country was still administered by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

, but renamed itself to the National Parliament with the attaining of national independence on 20 May 2002.

Structure

National Parliament has 65 members, elected every 5 years through

party-list proportional representation Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a subset of proportional representation electoral systems in which multiple candidates are elected (e.g., elections to parliament) through their position on an electoral list. They can also be u ...

voting. The three main components of concerning parliament in East Timor are the National Parliament, the Prime Minister, and the President.

President

The President is elected in a separate election from National Parliament, and their role is the

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and ...

. They are able to reject certain legislation, but their role is limited by the Constitution. The current President, as of 20 May 2022, is

José Ramos-Horta José Manuel Ramos-Horta (; born 26 December 1949) is an East Timorese politician currently serving as president of East Timor since May 2022. He previously served as president from 20 May 2007 to 20 May 2012. Previously he was Ministry of Fore ...

Prime Minister

The President appoints the Prime Minister, but it is expected that the President will select the leader chosen by the largest party/coalition. Essentially, if no one party is able to form a majority in its own right, then all the members of parliament subsequently elect the head of government. The Prime Minister carries out the function of the

head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a ...

. The current Prime Minister, as of 22 June 2018, is

Taur Matan Ruak José Maria Vasconcelos (born 10 October 1956), popularly known as Taur Matan Ruak (Tetum for "Two Sharp Eyes"), is an East Timorese politician who has served as the prime minister of East Timor since 22 June 2018. He was also President of Ea ...

Elections

Elections are held every 5 years using a

voting system to elect 65 members to the National Assembly. Voting is voluntary for all East Timorese citizens over the age of 17. There have been five elections for the parliament in East Timor:

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

, and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Current members

The 5th National Parliament of East Timor currently consists of 65 members elected in the 2018 election. 34 members are from Alliance for Change and Progress ( CNRT– PLP– KHUNTO), 23 are from

Fretilin The Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor ( pt, Frente Revolucionária de Timor-Leste Independente, abbreviated as Fretilin) is a centre-left political party in East Timor. They presently hold 23 of 65 seats in the National Parliam ...

, 5 are from the Democratic Party (PD), and 3 are from Democratic Development Forum (PUDD– UDT– FM–PDN). Each of these MPs will serve a 5-year term, which began in June 2018.

List of presidents of the National Parliament

Composition of the National Parliament since 2001

File:PN Eleicoes 2001.svg, 1st Parliament (2001–2007) File:Parlement Timor oriental 2018.svg, 5th Parliament (2018–2020) File:Parliamento Nacional 2019.svg, 6th Parliament (2020–2023)

References

External links

Parliament of East Timor

News reports about the East Timor National Parliament

{{Coord, 8, 33, 17, S, 125, 34, 43, E, region:TL-DI_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title National Parliament National Parliament

2001 establishments in East Timor