Dili, September 16, 2026 (Media Democracia) – President of the Jury Commission for the Recruitment of New PNTL Members for 2026, Assistant Police Commissioner José Soares, informed that the Minister of Interior, Francisco Guterres, has authorized the PNTL Command, through the Recruitment Commission, to publish the list of names of candidates admitted to the document re-verification phase.
A total of 12,877 candidates were admitted to the document re-verification phase.
“The instruction from the Ministry of Interior is that the results must be published. In compliance with this orientation, starting tomorrow, we will submit the results of the document re-verification for the 12,877 candidates to the Jornal da República,” said Assistant Police Commissioner José Soares to journalists in a press conference held at the PNTL General Headquarters, Caicoli, Tuesday (15/09).
He said that the number of candidates published by the previous commission was 12,874, but in this new re-verification it increased to 12,877, because the commission found three more documents in the Secretariat’s drawers and cabinets.
“We found three documents in the Secretariat’s drawer, the previous number was 12,874, but the number increased because we found some documents in the cabinet and drawers. Therefore, the number of candidates increased to 12,877.” he informed.
The Recruitment Commission started, on Tuesday (15/09), printing the results of the document re-verification list for the new PNTL members for 2026. The results will be published in the Jornal da República starting Wednesday (16/09).
Within this week, the PNTL Command through the Recruitment Commission will also publish the list at the Municipal Commands and the Police Training Center, so that candidates can check their names.
The President of the Jury Commission said that candidates who meet the criteria will be admitted to continue to the cultural test phase, while candidates who don’t meet the criteria will have their names included in the results list.
“Some who meet the criteria, truly meet them; some who don’t meet the criteria, don’t meet them. Because we must promote merit, we must guarantee transparency and commitment to do the work properly,” he said.
He said the commission will give five days for candidates to verify their names at the Municipal Commands and the Police Training Center. After this period, the commission will continue to the cultural test phase.
“The results made by the Secretariat, we hold firm to the principles written in Ministerial Diploma No. 35/2026, which talks about merit, transparency, accountability and credibility,” he said.
Assistant Police Commissioner José Soares also affirmed that the members of the Secretariat and the Jury are doing their work with commitment to the people and to the heroes who died for the nation of Timor-Leste, and are committed to complying with the Constitution and the law.
He said that during this process, no individual intervened in the work of the Secretariat or the Jury
The Jury participating in this recruitment process is composed of two international GNR members, two TLPDP members, two PNTL members and members from the Civil Service Commission.
Commissioner José Soares also took the opportunity to appeal to all candidates who meet the requirements to check their names in the results list.
“We will give five days and publish the results in the Jornal da República, in the municipalities and at the Training Center, to give opportunity for candidates to see their names. If there is anything incorrect, they can make a complaint,” he affirmed.
According to Commissioner José Soares, during the document re-verification process, the commission identified that more than a thousand candidates had incomplete documents. In addition, there are some candidates who are over 24 years old, some with junior high school (SMP) education level, and some who are not citizens of Timor-Leste. Information about these candidates will also be included in the published results.
He asked the Provedoria for Human Rights and Justice (PDHJ), non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other authorities to accompany and monitor this recruitment process, to ensure that the work of the Secretariat and the Jury is carried out according to the law.
“I ask PDHJ, NGOs and other authorities to accompany our meetings and work, to see whether our work is running according to the law or not, so as to ensure that the functioning of this Secretariat runs well,” he said.
In the end, Commissioner José Soares reaffirmed his commitment to all the people of Timor-Leste to carry out the recruitment process with transparency and in accordance with the law.
Journalist: Estefánia Cardoso
Photo: Estefánia Cardoso