The document asked to introduce the topic before the agenda of the 5th extraordinary plenary meeting to discuss and vote on the Draft Resolution approving the presidential request to send a military contingent to support and maintain peace operations in eastern Africa. Democratic Republic of Congo.
The proposal was rejected with 93 votes against the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the majority parliamentary group, 70 in favor of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), parliamentary representation of the Social Renewal Party (PRS) and National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA) and two abstentions from the Humanist and Angola Party (PHA).
The UNITA parliamentary group intended to present, discuss and approve a protest vote "against the situation of suffering caused to more than 300 families, by the demolition of their residences in the urban district of Zango 3-B, on the 27th of February 2023 ".
The request also sought an approach on "the persecution of civic activists and journalists from public and private bodies, targets of censorship, intimidation, change of work location, death threats or closure of portals and communication sites".
"As deputies elected by the people, it is our political, constitutional and moral duty to defend the dignity of the human person, the right to housing, quality of life, freedom of expression and information of the citizens we represent", said UNITA in the application submitted to the National Assembly.
UNITA deputies stress that when visiting the site of the demolitions they found that "there was a mafia land deal, with violation of the fundamental rights of citizens, where 300 families saw their homes demolished, leaving children and pregnant women out in the open in the middle of rain, all because of the interests of a business group protected by power".
With regard to the media sector, the UNITA parliamentary group considers that "it has been marked by a growing curtailment of freedoms by the authorities of State power, in a clear violation of the Constitution and the Law".
"The last case involves TV Camunda News, a digital channel hosted on the Youtube platform and other social networks, which is about to stop producing and broadcasting content of an informative and political nature for an indefinite period, following a new interrogation to which it was submitted by Mr. David Boio, owner of the project", stresses the document.
For the UNITA parliamentary group, the National Assembly's protest vote "is timely, urgent and necessary", also noting that "the persecution of journalists and activists" continues.
"The most recent is being made against the activist Nelson Dembo (better known as Gangsta) and his direct family members", underlines the request.
