# 1975 Council of Ministers of East Timor

The 1975 Council of Ministers (Portuguese: Conselho de Ministros, Tetum: Konsellu Ministrus) was the Council of Ministers formed by the Fretilin political party in 1975 as the inaugural administration or cabinet of the Democratic Republic of East Timor proclaimed in November 1975.

## History

On 28 November 1975, Fretilin made a unilateral declaration of independence of East Timor from Portuguese colonial rule. On 30 November 1975, the party caused a "Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (RDTL)" to be read out at an inauguration ceremony for Francisco Xavier do Amaral as the newly appointed President of its new republic.
Article 40 of the new constitution provided for the establishment of a Council of Ministers. On 1 December 1975, Fretilin inaugurated that body.
By that time, however, Indonesian armed forces had infiltrated significant parts of the territory of East Timor, especially in what is now the Bobonaro Municipality, adjacent to the border with Indonesian West Timor. Just under a week later, on 7 December 1975, Indonesia began a full-scale invasion of East Timor, focused on Dili, the capital of the territory.
On 17 December 1975, Indonesia then brought about a de facto usurpation of Fretilin's Council of Ministers, by forming a Provisional Government of East Timor (PGET) (Indonesian: Pemerintah Sementara Timor Timur (PSTT)) headed by Arnaldo dos Reis Araújo [de] of the Timorese Popular Democratic Association (Portuguese: Associação Popular Democratica Timorense, APODETI) and Francisco Lopes da Cruz [de] of the Timorese Democratic Union (Portuguese: União Democrática Timorense, UDT).

## Composition

The Council of Ministers was made up of Ministers and Vice Ministers, as follows:

### Ministers

| Party | Minister | Portfolio |
| Fretilin | Nicolau dos Reis Lobato | Prime Minister |
| Independent | José Gonçalves [de] | Minister of Economic Coordination and Statistics |
| Fretilin | Juvenal Maria de Fátima Inácio Sera Key [de] | Minister of Finance |
| Fretilin | Eduardo Carlos dos Anjos Kaku'uk | Minister of Public Works, Transport and Communications |
| Fretilin | Rogerio Lobato | Minister of National Defense |
| Fretilin | Alarico Fernandes | Minister of Information, Home Affairs and Security |
| Fretilin | António Duarte Carvarino Mau Lear [de] | Minister of Justice |
| Fretilin | José Ramos-Horta | Minister of Foreign Affairs |
| Fretilin | Vicente dos Reis Bie Ky Sahe [de] | Minister of Labor |
| Fretilin | Hamis Bin Umar Bassarewan Hata [de] | Minister of Education and Culture |
| Fretilin | Mari Alkatiri | Minister of Political Affairs |
| Fretilin | Abílio Araújo [de] | Minister of Economic and Social Affairs |

### Vice Ministers

| Party | Minister | Portfolio |
| Fretilin | Hélio Sanches Pina Mau Kruma [de] | Vice Minister of Economic Coordination and Statistics |
| Fretilin | Domingos da Costa Ribeiro [de] | Vice Minister of Public Works, Transport and Communications |
| Fretilin | Hermenegildo Augusto Pereira Alves [de] | Vice Minister of Defense |
| Fretilin | Guido Diamantino Soares Kakeu [de] | Vice Minister of Defense |
| Fretilin | Fernando de Almeida do Carmo [de] | Vice Minister of Information, Home Affairs and Security |
| Fretilin | Guilhermina L.S. de Araújo Bimali [de] | Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs |
| Fretilin | Guido Valadares | Vice Minister of Labor and Social Welfare |
| Fretilin | Eduardo Ximenes [de] | Vice Minister of Health |