Other commentators have questioned why the discrepancy about nomination candidates persists, suggesting political interest is dictating the process.
On 11 August 2019, Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak said the President of the Republic had not approved prospective ambassadors, blaming “some technical matters,” prompting Dili to explain that a double list of nominations was slowing the process.
At the time, Ruak confirmed to media a request to Foreign Minister Donisio Babo to clarify the situation with the President of the Republic, Francisco “Lo Olo” Guterres.
The postings were in Australia, United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, Cape Verde, Cambodia, Switzerland, Mozambique, New Zealand, United States, Portugal, Thailand, Brazil, Singapore, Japan, Thailand, China and the Holy See (Rome).
Gusmao said 13 ambassador positions were unfilled, a situation, he said, reflected poorly on Timor-Leste’s diplomatic relations.
He said it was in Timor-Leste’s “national interest” to have diplomatic representatives in each country to attend international meetings and act as a figurehead for Timor-Leste.
“ We know that the Prime Minister has proposed 16 names of new ambassador candidates to be immediately assigned to their destinations but out of these only three people have been appointed and all of them have the same political party as the President,” he said.
"The President of the Republic should not be influenced by the political interests of the party.”
In a list seen by media, the current foreign ambassador nominations include:
- Inês Maria de Almeida, Ambassador for Australia; 2. Gil da Costa, Ambassador for United Kingdom and North Ireland; 3. José Luis Guterres, Ambassador for Switzerland; 4. Paulo Asis Belo, Ambassador for the Republic of Mozambique; 5. Lisualdo Menezes Coimbra Gaspar, Ambassador for New Zealand; 6. Isilio Antonio de Fatima Coelho da Silva, Ambassador for United States; 7. Isabel Amaral Guterres, Ambassador for Portugal; 8. Isabel Amaral Guterres, Ambassador to Cape Verde (non-resident); 9. Olimpio Maria Alves Gomes Miranda Branco, Ambassador for Brazil; 11. Maria Natalia Guterres Viegas Carascalao, Ambassador for Singapore; 12. Ilidio Ximenes da Costa, Ambassador for Japan; 13. Hermenegildo Lopes, Ambassador for Cambodial 14. Abrao dos Santos, Ambassador for China; 14. Joanna Veneranda Amaral, Ambassador for Holy City; 15. Armandina Maria Gusmao dos Santos, Ambassador for Thailand.
