Lucas Ngonda, who was presenting his party's policy statement this Wednesday at the opening of the seventh extraordinary plenary meeting of parliament, said that a "great dissatisfaction" persists among ERCA members.
"It can be seen today that the current ERCA has an ambiguous and conflicting performance on the mission it was called to fulfill, the dissatisfaction is great among the members of ERCA, some had the opportunity to express their dissatisfaction publicly," said Lucas Ngonda.
The president of the National Assembly, Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos, on Wednesday swore in Lourenço Bento António, nominated by the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) as a member of ERCA.
Lourenço Bento António replaced journalist Carlos Alberto, recently removed from that body by resolution of the National Assembly. ERCA was created in 2017 with the purpose of regulating and supervising the performance of the Angolan media.
Deputy Lucas Ngonda maintained that the entry of some members and the exit of others in ERCA is symptomatic of internal problems and considered that that body is a structure of member parties and not a national project.
According to the FNLA leader, who defends the "restructuring or extinction" of ERCA and the creation of a new entity, the institution "has not played" the role of balance in the operation of the country's media.
"There is every interest in rethinking this institution, it should not be reduced to the role of a fighting instrument for the parties represented there. We understand that its mission is above partisan objectives," he noted.
ERCA "should represent the social conscience of a democratic and rule of law state in the way it acts, despite being an organization of composite interests, it should excel in the fundamental objectives that motivated its creation".
The deputy of the opposition Social Renewal Party (PRS), Benedito Daniel, in his political statement, criticized the amendment of the Environmental Conservation Areas Law, which authorizes the exploitation of mineral, oil and gas resources in protected areas.
For the PRS leader, protected areas can provide the country with a source of income through ecotourism activity, "dormant" due to "lack of commitment and public policies" capable of attracting investments to generate income for the State and benefits for local populations.
"If over the years the national parks have not benefited from investments that are capable of generating economic prospects for the environmental sector, nor for local communities, it is because the government has been and continues to be totally disinterested in promoting the tourism sector," said Benedito Daniel.
In turn, the president of the parliamentary group of the Broad Convergence for the Salvation of Angola - Electoral Coalition (CASA-CE), Alexandre Sebastião André, considered in his political statement that the "Angolans are still devastated and the country is dying".
The deputy for the electoral coalition lamented the "extreme poverty and severe hunger that continue to kill several citizens throughout the country, without any official statistics," stating that it is a "contradiction" to lower taxes on beverages and maintain taxes on basic goods.
In this session, deputies voted unanimously and in its entirety for the proposed Law on the Legal Regime of the Land Registry, with 180 votes in favor, no votes against, and abstentions.
The bill amending the Law on the Special Consumption Tax is also being discussed and voted on in general in this seventh extraordinary plenary meeting of the fourth legislative session of the fourth parliamentary term.
