16 Facts About Mari Alkatiri

Mari bin Amude Alkatiri is a Timorese politician.

Mari Alkatiri was Prime Minister of East Timor from May 2002 until his resignation on 26 June 2006 following weeks of political unrest in the country, and again from September 2017 until May 2018.

Mari Alkatiri is the Secretary-General of the Fretilin party and was the former President of the Special Administrative Region of Oecusse.

Mari Alkatiri is one of very few Muslim politicians in a country that is largely Christian.

Mari Alkatiri's ancestors were Hadhrami merchants who lived in Portuguese Timor, he was born in Dili, and had 10 other siblings.

Mari Alkatiri left East Timor in 1970 for post-secondary studies in Portuguese Angola, returning to East Timor as one of the founders of Fretilin, becoming its Minister for Political Affairs.

Mari Alkatiri studied law at Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique.

Mari Alkatiri was Senior Legal consultant, in a private law office in Maputo from 1992 to 1998, and consultant on Public International Law and Constitutional Law to the Assembly of the Republic of Mozambique from 1995 to 1998.

On 21 June 2006, President Xanana Gusmao called for Mari Alkatiri to resign or else he would, as allegations that Mari Alkatiri had ordered a hit squad to threaten and kill his political opponents led to mass backlash.

The 'hit squad' accusations against Mari Alkatiri were subsequently rejected by a UN Commission, which criticised Gusmao for making inflammatory statements during the crisis, and called Police Chief Paulo Martins's abandonment of his post a 'serious dereliction of duty'.

Mari Alkatiri said on 1 August 2007 that he would be Fretilin's candidate for prime minister, while criticising the record of his rival for the position, Gusmao, who had left the presidency and was elected to parliament at the head of a new party, the National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction.

Mari Alkatiri denounced Ramos-Horta's decision as unconstitutional, and angry Fretilin supporters reacted to Ramos-Horta's announcement with violent protests, although Mari Alkatiri said that the party would fight the decision through legal means and would encourage people to protest and practice civil disobedience.

In September 2017, Mari Alkatiri was voted again to be Timor Leste's prime minister.

Mari Alkatiri has been described as a skillful negotiator and an economic nationalist who secured as larger portion of East Timor's share of the Timor Sea oil resources against Australia.

Mari Alkatiri was backed by Portugal but opposed by the Australian government of John Howard.

Mari Alkatiri is an Honorary Member of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation's Roncalli Committee.