Olinda Guterres (born 1955) is a politician 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-weste ...

. She has been a member of the National Parliament for the KHUNTO party since 2017.

Early life and education

Olinda Guterres was born in the Baucau Municipality town of Uato-Missa in 1955. She holds a bachelor's degree in Portuguese.

Political career

Guterres first ran for national office in the

2001 East Timorese parliamentary election 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, as a member of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC), but she was not elected. For several years she disputed leadership of the PDC with , which culminated in the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

declaring the Costa-led version of the party the official one in 2005. She ran again in the

2012 East Timorese parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in East Timor on 7 July 2012.Election Profile
IFES The Uni ...

, this time as a member of the

Kmanek Haburas Unidade Nasional Timor Oan Kmanek Haburas Unidade Nasional Timor Oan (, KHUNTO) is a political party in East Timor. History KHUNTO was officially registered on 22 June 2011 and is affiliated with the martial arts group ''Korka''. In the 2012 parliamentary elections it re ...

(KHUNTO) party, but the new party did not gain enough votes to enter Parliament. However, her party passed the threshold in

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 ser ...

, with Guterres becoming a member of the National Parliament of East Timor on September 5, 2017. In early elections in 2018, she was reelected for a term ending in 2023, then reelected again that year for a term ending in 2028. From 2020 to 2023, she served as vice president of the Parliament's Commission D, which deals with the economy and development.

Positions

Portuguese language

Guterres has sought to bar the use of Portuguese from parliamentary debates, arguing that it is not widely understood in the country and therefore exclusionary. Banning it would "facilitate members' participation and the general population's comprehension and active involvement in all debates," she said in 2019. On June 17, 2020, Guterres was involved in a verbal and physical fight on the floor of the National Parliament with fellow legislator

Maria Fernanda Lay Maria Fernanda Lay (born 1954) is a politician in East Timor. She has been a member of the National Parliament of East Timor since 2007. In 2023, she was elected as president of the National Parliament, becoming the first woman to lead the body. ...

, a member of the

National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction The National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction ( pt, Congresso Nacional de Reconstrução de Timor, CNRT) is a political party in East Timor founded by former President Xanana Gusmão in March 2007 in preparation for the 2007 parliamentary ...

(CNRT) party. Guterres criticized Lay for speaking Portuguese during a debate, rather than Tetum, which is more commonly spoken in the country. Lay responded that Portuguese is an official language of East Timor according to the Constitution. She also added that Guterres had made racist comments and that she had called her a ''china pirata'' ("Chinese pirate"). The argument turned physical, and the two had to be separated by other legislators. The Lusa News Agency reported that this encounter followed an incident the previous day in which Guterres had to be restrained by fellow legislators in order to prevent her from attacking another CNRT member of parliament, .

COVID-19 and immigration

In January 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Guterres defended security forces "shooting to hurt" (but "not shooting to kill") those seeking to cross the border with Indonesia illegally, "so that they learn."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guterres, Olinda 1955 births Members of the National Parliament (East Timor) Kmanek Haburas Unidade Nasional Timor Oan politicians East Timorese women in politics 21st-century women politicians Living people People from Baucau District