José Agostinho Sequeira

José Agostinho Sequeira (born 7 June 1959), also known by his nom de guerre Somotxo Matar Mimiraka, is an East Timorese politician and former guerilla, and a member of the Fretilin political party. In 2006–2007, he was Vice Minister of Interior, and in 2017–2018 he was Minister for Defence and Security. Since 2018, he has been a Member of the National Parliament.

José Agostinho Sequeira
Member of the National Parliament
Incumbent
Assumed office 13 June 2018 (2018-06-13)
Minister for Defence and Security
In office 15 September 2017 (2017-09-15) – 22 June 2018 (2018-06-22)
Prime Minister	Mari Alkatiri
Preceded by	Cirilo Cristóvão (Minister of Defence) Longuinhos Monteiro (Minister of the Interior)
Succeeded by	Filomeno da Paixão de Jesus
Vice Minister for Interior
In office 21 July 2006 (2006-07-21) – 8 August 2007 (2007-08-08)
Prime Minister	José Ramos-Horta (to 19 May 2007) Estanislau da Silva (from 19 May 2007)
Preceded by	Alcino Baris [de]
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Personal details
Born	(1959-06-07) 7 June 1959 (age 64) Lore I [de], Lautém Portuguese Timor (now East Timor)
Political party	Fretilin

Early life and career

Sequeira was born in Lore I [de], in the then Lautém District of the then Portuguese Timor. He attended school for twelve years.^[1] During the liberation struggle against Indonesia, he was a collaborator of the chief of staff of Falintil and Secretary of Region IV.^[2]

After the resumption of Timorese independence in 2002, Sequeira was appointed as the first director of the Timorese Resistance Archive and Museum (Portuguese: Arquivo & Museu da Resistência Timorense, Tetum: Arkivu & Museu Rezisténsia Timorense (AMRT)). From August 2002, he worked in Lisbon with the then Mário Soares Foundation [pt] (Portuguese: Fundação Mário Soares (FMS)) to build the archive.^[3] Following his return to East Timor in May 2006, he continued to work at the AMRT until 21 July 2006, when he was sworn in as Vice Minister of Interior in the II Constitutional Government.^[4][5]

Political career

Sequeira remained in office as Vice Minister, including in the III Constitutional Government, until 8 August 2007, when that government was replaced by the IV Constitutional Government.^[6][7] He later became president of the Falantil Veterans Foundation (Portuguese: Fundação dos Veteranos das Falintil (FVF)).^[2]

From 2012 to 2017, Sequeira was one of the five members of the Council of State elected by the Parliament.^[8]

In the East Timorese parliamentary election of 2017, Sequeira was elected to the National Parliament as a member of the Fretilin list.^[9] On 15 September 2017, he was sworn in as Minister of Defence and Security in the VII Constitutional Government, and therefore had to give up his parliamentary seat in accordance with the Constitution.^[10][11] As Defence Minister, Sequeira was also a member of the Superior Council for Defence and Security [de].^[1] When it became clear that the Fretilin / PD minority government could not prevail in Parliament, President Francisco Guterres dissolved the Parliament and called new elections.^[12]

In the ensuing election held on 12 May 2018, Sequeira was re-elected as number 20 on the Fretilin list, and Fretilin became the strongest opposition party.^[13] Sequeira's term as Minister ended when the VIII Constitutional Government took office on 22 June 2018.^[14] He is now a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security (Committee B).^[1]

Honours

Ribbon	Award	Date awarded	Notes
	Order of the Guerilla [de], Degree 1		^[1]
	Medal of the Order of Timor-Leste	20 May 2019	^[1]

References

1. "Agustinho Sequeira Somotxo". National Parliament of East Timor (in Portuguese). Retrieved 25 November 2021.
2. "International Conference "Memory and National Identity" From 26 Jan until 27 Jan 2015". Government of Timor-Leste. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
3. [Collaboration]. AMRT (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 8 January 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
4. [Xanana Gusmão swears in new MFA and deputy interior minister]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Lusa. 21 July 2006. Archived from the original on 17 September 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
5. "II Constitutional Government". Government of Timor-Leste. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
6. "III Constitutional Government". Government of Timor-Leste. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
7. "Gusmao sworn in as East Timor PM". BBC News. 8 August 2007. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
8. "RESOLUÇÃO DO PARLAMENTO 15/2012". Jornal da República (in Portuguese). 10 October 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
9. "Who is in Timor-Leste's new Parliament? / Se tuir iha Parlamentu Nasionál foun?". La'o Hamutuk: Timor-Leste Institute for Development Monitoring and Analysis. 23 July 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
10. "VII Governo constitucional de Timor-Leste toma hoje posse incompleto" [VII Constitutional Government of Timor-Leste takes office today incomplete]. Diário de Notícias. Lusa. 15 September 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
11. "VII Constitutional Government". Government of Timor-Leste. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
12. "East Timor president dissolves Parliament to hold new elections". The Straits Times. Reuters. 26 January 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
13. "ELEIÇÃO DO PARLAMENTO NACIONAL 2018: Declaração Conjunta de Aceitação de Candidatura" [ELECTION OF THE NATIONAL PARLIAMENT 2018: Joint Statement of Application Acceptance] (PDF) (in Portuguese). Government of East Timor. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
14. "Transitional Ministerial Administration". Government of Timor-Leste. 25 June 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2021.

External links

  Media related to José Agostinho Sequeira at Wikimedia Commons