“If the President of the Republic agrees to immediately appoint nine members of the government we will be open to dialogue," Nunes said in National Parliament on Friday.

The government’s ministerial cabinet has been incomplete since June 2018 when Guterres -  who belongs to the opposition Fretilin party and holds veto powers – rejected almost a dozen members of cabinet because of corruption investigation, marring the formation of a new government following a protracted political stalemate.

Nunes comments come as Fretilin leaders call for open dialogue from the Alliance for Change and Progress (AMP) coalition government in a bid to ease the country’s volatile political landscape.

The Deputy Chairman of Timor-Leste’s major opposition party, Francisco Miranda Branco, said Thursday in National Parliament that there was a need to “unite” as he stressed that the coming together of political parties to agree on development priorities was essential for “peaceful and stable” country, in a comment aimed at the government’s leaders.

Earlier Mari Alkatiri, Fretilin’s Secretary General, took aim at Xanana Gusmao, saying he had made every effort to meet with the President of CNRT, but that Gusmao’s tight international schedule afforded him little time in Dili.

Gusmao is also Timor-Leste’s Oil and Gas Chief Negotiator.

Alkatiri said: "I don't have money to look for them in all places, my brother Xanana did not stay long in Dili, Xanana came to Dili for only 2 or 3 days then went overseas so we were both very difficult to meet each other.”