Luanda – The Speaker of the Angolan National Assembly (parliament), Carolina Cerqueira, on Monday highlighted the trajectory of the Head of State of East-Timor, José Ramos-Horta, with emphasis on his dedication to the cause of his country’s independence.
The Angolan parliamentarian, who was delivering a speech at the Solemn Plenary Session of the National Assembly, in the ambit of the East-Timor President’s official visit to Angola, manifested her satisfaction with the fact that the Angolan parliament was receiving in its premises, for the first time, a Nobel Prize laureate.
“His trajectory of life is his best visit card. A lifetime of work dedicated to the Timorese cause”, she emphasised, further reminding that at the age of 18 José Ramos-Horta went into his first exile, eventually followed by two other exiles, having once been the youngest person to speak at a session of the United Nations.
The presence of the Timorese Statesman, Carolina Cerqueira explained, “serves as reference for the path that we’ve chosen, that of being the legimate and skilful representatives of the sovereign people and, above all, stern defenders of human rights”.
To her, Ramos-Horta has always had a model of life of pardon, solidarity, teaching how to heal wounds and appealing to the Timorese people to avoid being stuck in the past suffering, being, instead, confident about the future and learn to turn the pages of their recent history, and always searching for cohesion, fraternity, equality and social development.
She then reminded that the world has been able to recognise such dedication, with the award to Ramos-Horta of the Peace Noble Prize in 1996.
Carolina Cerqueira went on to stress that the Timorese people also recognised this dedication, by placing their trust, in 2022, on Ramos-Horta to be, again, at the helm of East-Timor’s destiny, after ceasing such job in 2012.
This visit, she assured, represents a gesture of the fraternal friendship that unites the peoples of East-Timor and Angola.
“We have many values that unite us. A common past of struggle against colonialism unites us; and, after achieveing its independence in the year 1975, Angola has always showed solidarity to East-Timor’s cause”, she recalled.
Meanwhile, East-Timor celebrated, in May this year, 22 years of its independence, while Angola commemorated, in April, 22 years of effective peace.
According to the parliamentarian, these dates represent highpoints in the end of the “road of suffering and pain”, and the increase of courage and hope for a better tomorrow for both peoples.
National Assembly’s Equitable Representation
Carolina Cerqueira explained to the Timorese statesman that the Angolan parliament, today, can be proud for having a generational and gender representation never achieved before.
She underscored, as a way of reference, the Angolan President’s vision of inclusion of young people and women in decision-making organs, in all of the country’s political, economic and social areas.
She equally highlighted the role of President João Lourenço in the consolidation of peace, that being the “main foundation of democracy and rule of law”, a posture that has earned him the title of Champion of Peace.
Bilateral Relations
Angola and East-Timor established diplomatic relations on 20 May 2002. Both countries are members of the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP) and have collaborated in various domains within this organisation.
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