The Opinion Report and the Draft Resolution on the disciplinary proceedings against the deputy of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), Alberto Catenda, were unanimously approved this Thursday by the Committees on Mandate, Ethics and Parliamentary Decorum and the of Constitutional and Legal Affairs of the National Assembly.
In an interview with the press, the president of the Committee on Mandate, Ethics and Parliamentary Decorum, Sérgio Vaz, said that the deputy committed acts that violate ethics and parliamentary decorum, stressing that given the gravity of the act, it will be deliberated on in the plenary session on the 22nd of this month.
"This process, given the serious misconduct committed by the deputy, must be deliberated in plenary session, which is why it was brought here to a meeting of the joint committees, for an initial assessment and will be deliberated in the next plenary session on the 22nd", said Sérgio Vaz.
According to the deputy, due to the seriousness of the act committed by the deputy, the suspension of his mandate was proposed.
"There was a commission for this purpose, which worked, collected evidence, listened to everyone involved, everyone implicated, and gave the deputy the opportunity to defend himself. The deputy presented his defense arguments, and a whole ritual that characterizes the disciplinary process was followed and finally everything was proven, considering the seriousness and also considering the mitigating factors, the commission decided to propose the loss of the mandate", he stressed.
Upon loss of mandate, the deputy ceases his duties and is replaced by another from the list of origin.
Sérgio Vaz said that the National Assembly will continue to work so that if there are other cases, the deputies are subjected to the same treatment.
"If there are other deputies who practice this thing of putting the vehicles allocated by the National Assembly – with all the effort made, for the good exercise of the mandate – to the service of 'rent-a-car', to obtain personal benefits, they will be subject to he the same treatment", he highlighted.