Ágio Pereira
Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers
Assumed office
1 July 2023
Prime MinisterXanana Gusmão
Preceded byFidelis Leite Magalhães
In office
22 June 2018 – 12 May 2020
Prime MinisterTaur Matan Ruak
Preceded byAdriano do Nascimento
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Deputy Minister of the Prime Minister for the Delimitation of Borders
In office
3 October 2017 – 22 June 2018
Prime MinisterMari Alkatiri
Minister of State of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers
In office
8 August 2012 – 15 September 2017
Prime Minister
Succeeded byAdriano do Nascimento
Secretary of State of the Council of Ministers
In office
8 August 2007 – 8 August 2012
Prime MinisterXanana Gusmão
Preceded byGregório de Sousa
Succeeded byAvelino Coelho
Personal details
Born (1956-03-31) 31 March 1956
Political partyNational Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT)
Spouses
  • Lurdes Pires
  • (1978–1988)
  • Yeni do Rosário Lay Pereira
  • (2012–present)
ChildrenOne daughter Shana Pereira, Two sons
Residence(s)Dili, East Timor

Hermenegildo Augusto "Ágio" Cabral Pereira Alves[1][2] (also known as Ágio Pereira) (born 31 March 1956) is an East Timorese politician, and a member of the National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT).[3]

He is the incumbent Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, serving since July 2023 in the IX Constitutional Government of East Timor led by Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão.

In the VI Constitutional Government, Pereira was one of four Ministers of State, and also Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.[4] In the VII Constitutional Government, he was Deputy Minister of the Prime Minister for the Delimitation of Borders.[5] From June 2018 to May 2020, he was again Minister of State and Minister of the Council of Ministers, in the VIII Constitutional Government.[2]

Early life and career

Pereira was born in the then Portuguese Timor (now East Timor) on 31 March 1956.[6] During the 24 years of the Indonesian occupation of East Timor (1975-1999), he lived initially in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, where he studied music and worked as a civil servant.[7] Later, Pereira emigrated to Australia where his first daughter Shana was born in 1980.[8] From 1991 to 1999 he was executive director of the Australian-based international humanitarian organization East Timor Relief Association Incorporated Inc. (ETRA), which advocated the independence of East Timor and provided humanitarian aid.[9]

In July 1999, Pereira returned to East Timor, one month before the independence referendum.[7] In September 2000, upon the founding of the centre-right Social Democratic Party (PSD), Pereira became its Vice Chairman. Previously, he was a member of the leftist Fretilin party.[10]

Between 1999 and 2001, Pereira was the PSD representative in the National Council of Timorese Resistance (CNRT), the umbrella organization of the East Timorese independence movement.[9][10] From 1999 to 2000, he led the National Emergency Commission, which provided care to those who had been traumatised by violent militia attacks. From 2000 to 2001, he was a member of the National Consultative Council (NCC), which aimed to represent the population of East Timor in the UN administration. In that capacity, Pereira was appointed Deputy Spokesman, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Budget and Finance, and Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee on Political Affairs.[9]

Political career

From 2002, Pereira was chief of staff to the then presidents Xanana Gusmão and José Ramos-Horta, respectively, until 8 August 2007, when he was sworn in as Secretary of State of the Council of Ministers and government spokesman in the IV Constitutional Government.[9][11][12][13]

On 8 August 2012, upon the commencement of Prime Minister Gusmão's second term, as leader of the V Constitutional Government, Pereira was promoted to Minister of State of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.[14] After Gusmão resigned prematurely as Prime Minister and was replaced by Rui Maria de Araújo, Pereira continued as Minister of State of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.[15]

Following the parliamentary election in 2017, the CNRT went into opposition, and Pereira was replaced in his ministerial post by Adriano do Nascimento. However, on 29 September 2017 opposition members were included in the government, and Pereira was appointed Deputy Minister of the Prime Minister for the Delimitation of Borders.[16] In the meantime, Pereira had risen to the position of party chairman of the CNRT. In 2018, there was an early parliamentary election and the CNRT returned to the governing coalition as the lead party in the three party Alliance for Change and Progress (AMP). In the new AMP coalition government, Pereira was again appointed Minister of State of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.[17]

On 12 May 2020, following the breakdown of the AMP coalition during the first few months of 2020, the Council of Ministers approved a restructure of the ministry that included the abolition of Pereira's portfolio of Minister of State. Pereira was therefore sidelined from the government with effect from that date.[18][19]

On 1 July 2023, upon the commencement of Prime Minister Gusmão's third term in that office, as leader of the IX Constitutional Government, Pereira was re-appointed as Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.[20]

Personal

Pereira lives in the Dili district of Fatuhada. He is married to Yeni do Rosário Lay Pereira and they have two sons, born in 2013 and 2018, respectively.[6]

He has training in environmental biology and a masters degree in criminology and criminal justice.[9]

He also composed the music for the British film documentary "Death of a Nation: The Timor Conspiracy" (1994).[21]

References

  1. ↑ "Lista do V Governo Constitucional de Timor-Leste" [List of the V Constitutional Government of East Timor]. SAPO Notícias (in Portuguese). 6 August 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  2. 1 2 "Structure of the VIII Constitutional Government". Government of Timor-Leste. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  3. ↑ Leach, Michael (23 October 2017). "Timor-Leste: A return to belligerent democracy?". The Interpreter. Lowy Institute. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  4. ↑ "VI Constitutional Government". Government of Timor-Leste. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  5. ↑ "VII Constitutional Government". Government of Timor-Leste. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  6. 1 2 "Curriculum Vitae: Agio Pereira". Academia.edu. 28 July 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  7. 1 2 "Resilience Pays Off". Timor-Leste now!. The Foreign Policy Group, LLC. 2012. Archived from the original on 16 November 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  8. ↑ Fallon, Karla. "Making Noise: The Politics of Aceh and East Timor in the Diaspora". allacademic research. p. 7. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Pereira, Agio (2011). Timor-Leste: Transition from Peacekeeping to Peacebuilding – A Timorese Perspective (PDF). Civil-Military Working Papers 10/2010. Australian Government Asia Pacific Civil-Military Centre of Excellence. ISBN 9781921933097.
  10. 1 2 Walsh, Pat (April 2001). "East Timor's Political Parties and Groupings Briefing Notes". Yale University. Australian Council for Overseas Aid. p. 18. Archived from the original on 1 January 2007. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  11. ↑ "Decreto Presidente 54/2007". Jornal da República. 21 May 2007. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  12. ↑ "IV Constitutional Government". Government of Timor-Leste. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  13. ↑ Bachelard, Michael (15 January 2014). "Xanana Gusmao to quit as leader of East Timor". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  14. ↑ "V Constitutional Government". Government of Timor-Leste. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  15. ↑ "Members of the incoming Sixth Constitutional Government meet". Government of Timor-Leste. 12 February 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  16. ↑ "CORREÇÃO: Anunciados novos membros do Governo timorense, mas executivo ainda incompleto" [CORRECTION: New members of East Timorese Government announced, but executive still incomplete] (in Portuguese). 29 September 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  17. ↑ "Primeiro grupo de membros do VIII Governo timorense tomou posse em Díli" [First group of members of the VIII Timorese Government take office in Dili] (in Portuguese). SAPO. 22 June 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  18. ↑ Soares Martins, Evaristo (14 May 2020). "PM Taur Matan Ruak Gains Two Deputies in Government Restructure". Tatoli. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  19. ↑ Sanchez, Hortencio (25 May 2020). "Foreign Minister Dionísio Soares Among Five MPs to Resign From Cabinet". Tatoli. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  20. ↑ Martins, Filomeno (30 June 2023). "The list of structure of IX Constitutional Government announced in Official Gazette". Tatoli. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  21. ↑ Ágio Pereira at IMDb 

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