Francisco Borolaku, who retained his position as the secretary of state for institutional reinforcement or SEFI (in Tetum), has decided not to take up his position in the new government because of an ongoing investigation against him.
Borolaku is alleged to have unlawfully taken part in a government contract (a law known locally as krime de partisipasaun ekonómika) while serving as director of procurement in the ministry of finance before 2012. The contract involved the purchase of Toyota Prados for members of parliament. After the 2012 election, Borolaku was elevated to secretary of state to lead SEFI under the new coalition government.
The legal process against Borolaku began in 2013. However criminal investigation against him could not proceed as planned because of the immunity from prosecution enjoyed by members of government, which could only be lifted by the parliament. In 2014, the government pressured the parliament to maintain this immunity.
In a statement provided to Tempo Semanal, Borolaku said that he won't be taking part in the swearing in ceremony scheduled to place today and therefore won't be resuming his position as secretary of state. However, this position in SEFI will be left vacant for now as he responds to the investigations.
"I will go to the ceremony but I won't be taking part in the swearing in. And this position will be left vacant until (the criminal investigation) is concluded," Borolaku told Tempo Semanal.
Borolaku also explained that he didn't want the new government to become distracted by his court case therefore opting to stand aside for now. However no explanation was provided as to why he didn't take a similar step in past, i.e. to voluntarily stand down, when investigations against him were underway and requests for his full cooperation with the process were made.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Obrigadu barak ba komentáriu/Obrigado pelo comentário/Thank you for your comments.