NP: Commission A discussing Law Protection for Widows

According to Member of Parliament (MP) Mario Viegas Carascaláo, a draft law for the social protection of widows is currently being debated within Commission A of the National Parliament (NP) in Dili.
“The law not only affords protection to widows but also to their children. The State has an obligation to provide support and protection to them,” said MP Carrascalão, last week at the NP.
MP Carrascalão said also the law aims to protect the widows of veterans and also more broadly all widows who thus far have not received any support from the State.
“For us from the Social Democratic Party (PSD), what we wish for is for those who need it that they can get protection,” he added.
MP Carrascalão said also the law is even broader and more general in that it also speaks of social security:  for the sick, the unemployed, the homeless. “The State has an obligation to look into all these areas, such as sending orphans to school.”
Even though the draft law is only now being debated within Commission A, afterwards it will be tabled so that is can be further debated at the plenary of the NP.
In the meantime, Xisto dos Santos, the Executive President of the Board of the National Alliance of Timor-Leste for an International Tribunal urged the government to declare the day of the Kraras Massacre, in Viqueque, a National Public Holiday, in memory of all those who lost their lives for the liberation of the people to Timor-Leste.
“It took place and right now it is only in the memories of the widows and orphans. Their village is known as the Village of Widows,” he said.
He added he is disappointed in the Timorese State because after then years the widows and the orphans have not yet received their entitlements and the perpetrators of the massacre are still at large.