 From 8 August 2007 to 8 August 2012, Alves was Minister of Social Solidarity in the IV Government of East Timor, with Xanana Gusmão as president.In 2012, under a new government, it was reportedly proposed that she would be appointed Minister of Defence and Security, but according to press reports, President Taur Matan Ruak, who was a former military commander in chief of the army, opposed her appointment.Alves allegedly rejected a return to her old ministerial post because of the "insult".