The case against Emilia Pires, Timor-Leste's minister of finance, is getting a lot of attention locally. Minister Pires is alleged to have interfered in a procurement process to favour the Australian-based company owned by her husband, Mac's Metalcraft. Tempo Semanal, a local weekly investigative magazine, is spearheading the charge against minister Pires, covering this story at full steam. Its latest instalment is an interview with Timor-Leste's deputy speaker of parliament, Aderito Hugo da Costa posted on YouTube. The attached video below has English subtitles.
In the interview, the parliamentary deputy speaker among other things, explains that the goods procured are not, and should not have been considered as, urgent. Equipment such as hospital beds for instance have always been acknowledged as a necessity and therefore accounted for in the normal planning process. There are funds already allocated for them, he explains, concluding that this case warrants serious investigation by the anti-corruption commission, known locally by its acronym KAK.
Indeed, one of the questions raised in this case concerns the justification of emergency in the purchase of the goods in question, and the bypassing of normal procurement processes.
Under ordinary circumstances, private companies would be invited to bid for the government project before the contract is awarded. The company that presents the best value for money will get the contract. In emergency situations (e.g. during a natural disaster) however, the government can directly appoint the company of its choice, a practice also known as 'single sourcing'.
Thus the allegations against minister Pires, that the project has been intentionally categorised as emergency to avoid normal procurement processes in favour of her husband, who coincidentally has had previous dealings with the government. Although the nature of the minister's involvement in the process, therefore any legal culpability attributable to her, is up for debate, others (posted in the Facebook forum Emerging Leadership in Democracy) have pointed out instead that the minister, at the minimum, already failed in her duty to guarantee proper procedures from taking place, while showing no inclination to prevent any conflicts of interest from arising because of the involvement of her husband in the process.
The case is currently being investigated by KAK. Read the latest development as reported by Tempo Semanal here.
PS: The video was originally posted on Tempo Semanal's YouYube account http://youtu.be/HH0kRxs8lZI
In the interview, the parliamentary deputy speaker among other things, explains that the goods procured are not, and should not have been considered as, urgent. Equipment such as hospital beds for instance have always been acknowledged as a necessity and therefore accounted for in the normal planning process. There are funds already allocated for them, he explains, concluding that this case warrants serious investigation by the anti-corruption commission, known locally by its acronym KAK.
Under ordinary circumstances, private companies would be invited to bid for the government project before the contract is awarded. The company that presents the best value for money will get the contract. In emergency situations (e.g. during a natural disaster) however, the government can directly appoint the company of its choice, a practice also known as 'single sourcing'.
Thus the allegations against minister Pires, that the project has been intentionally categorised as emergency to avoid normal procurement processes in favour of her husband, who coincidentally has had previous dealings with the government. Although the nature of the minister's involvement in the process, therefore any legal culpability attributable to her, is up for debate, others (posted in the Facebook forum Emerging Leadership in Democracy) have pointed out instead that the minister, at the minimum, already failed in her duty to guarantee proper procedures from taking place, while showing no inclination to prevent any conflicts of interest from arising because of the involvement of her husband in the process.
The case is currently being investigated by KAK. Read the latest development as reported by Tempo Semanal here.
PS: The video was originally posted on Tempo Semanal's YouYube account http://youtu.be/HH0kRxs8lZI
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