The decision was taken at a conference of the leaders of the five political parties with parliamentary seats, who considered the measure prudent.
In statements to the press, the leader of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), Américo Kuononoka, considered the postponement of the sixth plenary scheduled for Wednesday "a preventive measure", taking into account the guidelines of the country's health authorities.
Américo Kuononoka stressed that the direction taken on Tuesday by the meeting of the inter-ministerial commission for Covid-19, recommends avoiding the concentration of more than 100 to 200 people, especially in closed places.
"The National Assembly has 220 members, when a plenary session is held there is an involvement not only of the assistants, not only the administrative body of the National Assembly, but also of the journalists, and in obedience to these measures of the interministerial commission, the assembly has found no alternative but to postpone this plenary session," he said.
The leader of the parliamentary group of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), Liberty Chiaka, welcomed the measure, "which corresponds to global efforts to prevent and combat the pandemic".
"It is a position of responsibility, of, I would say, concern with people's lives", said Liberty Chiaka, stressing that the work of the National Assembly has not been suspended, and the ten specialized working committees continue to function.
The same opinion was corroborated by the leader of the parliamentary group of Convergência Ampla de Salação de Angola - Coligação Eleitoral (CASA-CE), Alexandre Sebastião, the leaders of the parliamentary representations of Partido de Renovação Social (PRS), Benedito Daniel, and of the Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola (FNLA), Lucas Ngonda.
"There was a suspension, the conference met to find some containment measures, which does not translate into the cancellation of the work of the National Assembly, but what is certain is that we are in a defensive fight," said Alexandre Sebastião.
Angola has not yet registered any new coronavirus cases and is implementing preventive measures, which will include the suspension of all international flights to and from the country, starting at midnight on Friday.
