"We want to make it very clear that we demand the resignation of the president of the CNE. The judicial bodies are very slow in trying to decide what we have referred to the Court for consideration, but we want to believe that there is still enough time for them to decide", said this Thursday the president of the parliamentary group of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), Liberty Chiyaka, on the day that Domingos Inácio Francisco Viena, nominated by the party, was sworn in as the new member of the CNE.
UNITA, requested the impugnation of the contest that designated Manuel Pereira da Silva ('Manico') as president of the CNE, a choice much contested by the opposition political parties and civil society.
Judge Manuel Pereira "Manico", was eventually sworn in in February 2020, despite protests, and is the current president of the body that manages electoral processes in the country.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the sixth extraordinary meeting of parliament, UNITA's parliamentary leader considered that the current president of the CNE does not have the conditions to perform the function.
"We are concerned that we are moving towards a process, which we would like to be serious, credible and transparent and fair, but unfortunately the one who presides over the governing body of the electoral process does not meet both from a legal and moral point of view, requirements to perform this function," said Liberty Chiyaka.
The inauguration of the current president of CNE, considered the deputy, "was an attack to the democratic and rule of law state, to the dignity of the Angolans and to the respect for the culture of rigor, moral and ethical elevation, and the Angolans don't deserve that, they deserve the best.
"We want to believe that the political actors can still reflect so that we can redirect the processes in good hands," he stressed when questioned by Lusa.
The National Electoral Commission this week criticized the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) for "providing training in electoral matters" without prior authorization.
According to Jornal de Angola, the statements by CNE commissioner Eduardo Magalhães were made Tuesday after the plenary meeting of the body that organizes, executes, coordinates and conducts electoral processes.
Questioned by Lusa, the representative of the United Nations Development Programme in Angola, Edo Stark, said that the institution "has had a very good relationship with CNE," with whom it has worked since 2012.
Liberty Chiyaka said that "all the steps and trainings that are taken with the purpose of empowering the electoral agents in order to have conditions to better manage the electoral processes, and with more skills, are welcome.
"But the most important of the steps that can be taken by CNE is to provide [the body] with staff that from a technical point of view, from a moral point of view, (have) the capacity to faithfully perform its role," he said.
The deputy from the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), João Pinto, "devalued" the request for the resignation of the President of the CNE, proposed by UNITA, questioning the seriousness of the proponents for "always seeking to discredit State institutions.
"If the CNE is an independent body, which is made up of 17 members, of which UNITA indicates some, its president is a judge, how can a serious party, with a sense of state, since 1992, always seek to discredit state institutions," he questioned.
"I think UNITA was unfortunate and it is not even civilized, because only the courts have the competence to annul acts," João Pinto pointed out.
The president of the CNE, he explained, "was elected by another power, he was elected by the Superior Council of the Judiciary, the magistrates are independent, when UNITA does that, maybe they are seeing the debacle".
"Because UNITA is one of those that never recognizes its mistakes and always seeks to victimize itself," said the MPLA politician.
