"We have not got a solution of the members of the Government who have not been sworn in," Taur Matan Ruak told the Independente on Tuesday.

Ruak said he had not decided if the proposed ministerial choices would remain.

He said the President had also not set a date for a second national parliament inauguration.

 "As Prime Minister, I'm looking for a solution,” he said. “The faster the better.”

On June 22 Ruak, a former president and independence fighter, was sworn in as Prime Minister after the Alliance for Change and Progress (AMP), a three-party alliance won a majority of parliament seats in a May 25 election.

At the time Lu Olo said eight ministers, including the finance and defense ministers, and three vice-ministers can’t be sworn in because the public prosecutor’s office is investigating corruption cases against them.

Some also have previous corruption convictions, he said.

Sisto Ximenes, from civil society group HAK, said the longer Ruak left his government open the more trust people would lose in his leadership skills.

Inocensio Xavier from the non-government organisation, AJAR, urged the Prime Minister to sit with President of AMP, Xanana Gusmao and Lu Olo to find a solution.

Xavier said it was Timorese people who suffered by the government being unable to agree on State Budget programming.

The ministerial gaps come more than ten months since Lu Olo was forced to dissolve parliament due to out-going government’s inability to pass legislation.

The senior government candidates under question include; Francisco “Lu Olo” Guterres refused were; Hélder Lopes, Francisco Kalbuadi Lay, Gastão Sousa, Tomás Cabral, Marcos da Cruz, Sérgio Lobo, Virgilo Smith, Jacinto Rigoberto, Antonio Verdial, José Turquel, and Filomeno Paixão.