Luanda – The National Assembly (Angolan Parliament) on Wednesday approved two draft Laws of Amendment to the Organic Law of General Elections, one of legislative initiative of the MPLA parliamentary group and the other of UNITA.
The two bills, which were unanimously approved, will now be discussed in detail in the next few days, in order to seek consensus between the political forces and turn them into a single legal instrument.
The ruling MPLA parliamentary group defends in its bill the alteration of 45 articles of the Electoral Law, while UNITA intends to modify 83, including five additions.
MPLA deputy Tomás da Silva said that his party’s parliamentary group intends to replace the elements lacking updating in the several areas of the current law on general elections.
He said that the current law on general elections was approved in a context that was completely different from the current one, and that a review was urgently needed in order to avoid delays in the process of preparing and holding the 2022 elections.
According to the deputy, in general terms, the draft law clarifies electoral matters, such as the vote abroad and the active electoral capacity, the date of the elections, the electoral constituencies, the places prohibited to the exercise of political propaganda, the polling stations and tables, the delegates of lists, the verification of the elections, among others.
UNITA MP Mihaela Weba said that her party wanted the forthcoming general and local elections to take place in a democratic climate.
“We want democratic elections that are fair, credible, transparent and that can effectively reflect the will of the sovereign, that is, that which is deposited in the ballot box”, she said, adding that, contrary to the MPLA, UNITA defends a municipal, provincial and national vote.
UNITA also believes that the composition of the National Electoral Commission (CNE), as the governing body of the general elections, should be equal and include members of civil society.
Source: Angola Press News Agency