Luanda – The minister of State and Head of the President’s Civil Office, Adão de Almeida, on Thursday said the Angolan government is fully committed to holding fair and transparent elections.
Adão de Almeida noted that the opposition parties’ demand for the publication of the lists of the citizens adequately registered to vote, following the end of the Voter Registration Data Confirmation Process, no longer has a legal basis.
“It is not a legal demand,” the minister of State said, noting that under the current Law more efficient mechanisms are available than those that the opposition parties are demanding regarding this matter.
According to the minister, the previous Voter Registration Law required the physical publication (affixed on cork boards for public consultation) in the municipal administrations, “so it is based on this Law, already revoked, that the opposition political parties are making this demand”.
There should be no room for misunderstanding about the matter, the minister stressed, adding that the political parties’ demand is being based on a law that is no longer in force and that the new (current) law obliges the publication of data so that every citizen can consult them and make the necessary complaint, if necessary.
Thus, the minister went on to explain, contrary to previous electoral processes, the Executive has made available three mechanisms for citizens to have access to information and correction of their data, namely through an internet application, a free phone line (136), and in person, at the public service counters that exist countrywide.
According to the minister of State, for the President to announce the date of the elections, he must have information from the National Electoral Commission (CNE) about the degree of preparation and conditions, so that they can be held within the constitutional and legal deadlines.
The next general elections in Angola, the fifth in the country’s political history, are scheduled for August this year, as established by the Constitution of the Republic of Angola revised in 2021.
In the previous elections, held in 2017, the MPLA won 61.7% of the votes, which allowed it to win 150 seats in the National Assembly (parliament), as well as the election of its leader, João Lourenço, as President of the Republic.
Source: Angola Press News Agency