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DILI: Timor Leste's Deputy Prime Minister Mario Carrascalao resigned on Wednesday after a public row with Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao about alleged graft in the finance ministry.
Carrascalao told reporters he could not tolerate being publicly insulted for blowing the whistle on "rampant" corruption.
The prime minister reportedly called Carrascalao, 73, a "stupid liar" after the deputy accused Gusmao of involvement in efforts to embezzle supplies of public funds to the government.
"After 73 years, for the first time in my life, somebody called me a 'stupid liar'. As a normal citizen, I responded by resigning as deputy prime minister," he told reporters after submitting his resignation to Gusmao.
"The corruption, collusion and nepotism remain rampant and the corruptors are protected in a mutual way. Many have spoken about corruption eradication but only a few have good intentions and remain on the front line."
The government issued a lengthy statement rejecting Carrascalao's allegations and accusing him of incompetence.
It said the deputy prime minister had demonstrated a "lack of understanding of simple budget concepts" when he refused to sign off on the supply of funds for government purchases due to concerns over graft.
"The government deeply regrets that Deputy Prime Minister Mario Carrascalao has made unsubstantiated allegations about corruption," it said.
Timor Leste's government has faced repeated accusations of graft, implicating senior officials including Justice Minister Lucia Lobato and Finance Minister Emilia Pires.
In October last year, Sebastiao Ximenes, then Timor Leste's ombudsman for human rights and justice, said a lack of political will had hampered the work of his unit to uncover misallocation of public funds.
The government denies any wrongdoing but bowed to public concern by appointing the country's first anti-corruption commissioner in February.
Opposition Fretilin lawmakers leapt on Carrascalao's resignation as evidence that the government was not doing enough to stamp out corruption.
Fretilin chief and former prime minister Mari Alkatiri said the deputy prime minister had been made a "scapegoat for corruption within the government".
He accused Gusmao of launching an "offensive" against Carrascalao to deter whistle blowers.
"This incident clearly shows that the rot (has set in) and that there is a crisis of trust between ministers and leaders of various factions of the government," he said in a statement.
"Mr Gusmao can not escape responsibility because it was he who created this disparate coalition."
Timor Leste has a population of around 1.1 million people and remains heavily dependent on international aid eight years after achieving formal independence from Indonesia.
Gusmao has pledged to invest more of the country's oil wealth to boost growth and living standards, despite laws which allow only three percent of petroleum revenues to be withdrawn each year.
- AFP/de
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