According to a statement by the parliamentary group of the Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), the two bills will have "a strong impact on consolidating the rule of law" and "may make a major contribution to the fight against corruption".
In the case of the right to petition, the diploma aims to enshrine an instrument for citizen participation in political life, contemplated in the Constitution, which is not subject to specific forms or processes, having an essentially informal character.
"Nevertheless, it is justified that, for certain purposes, the written form is required, the identification of the petitioners and the establishment of deadlines and procedures to ensure that requests do not fall into oblivion, that digital signatures are accepted, that citizens are informed about the evolution of the requests and that they are attended to within reasonable deadlines. This is the main objective of this law", defend the UNITA deputies.
As for the law on the right of democratic opposition, "it makes possible the inspection of the holders of political power, realizes the possibility of alternation in the executive power and guarantees fundamental political rights".
For UNITA, its approval "will allow the strengthening of institutional relations between the President of the Republic and the parliament, will introduce a new dynamic in the relations between the State and the citizen and strengthen trust between the public media and minorities" and also benefit the fight against corruption.
This law encompasses other fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution: the right to respond and politically reply to the executive's statements, the right to broadcast, the right to information on important matters of national life, and the right to prior consultation.
"The democratic rule of law is only consolidated if the two elected groups, majorities and minorities, have equal spaces for intervention to present policy measures for the functions of governance, inspection, control and accountability", defends UNITA.
The opposition's constitutional status, the statement adds, also includes the right to obtain adequate information from the executive and within a reasonable period of time, on the measures taken to put into effect the constitutional guarantees of freedom and independence of the media before the political power and power. and to ensure a structure and democratic functioning of the public sector media that safeguard their independence from the executive.
UNITA also challenges the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, "in the guise of MPLA president "to order the necessary parliamentary commissions of inquiry to be brought forward to investigate, at the level of parliament, "the real dimension of the fraudulent or subversive connections between the House of Security, the Ministry of Finance and the BNA and between the House of Security and other State bodies", following the recently revealed financial scandal.
On 24 May, the PGR announced that a case was opened involving officers of the Angolan Armed Forces assigned to the House of Security of the President of the Republic, on suspicion of embezzlement, retention of currency, criminal association and others.
UNITA's parliamentary group says it wants to "determine the possible involvement of the House of Security of the President of the Republic in other subversive activities, violating the rule of law of which it has long been accused."
"There are still many crabs and octopuses getting fat out there, while the people die of hunger and subversion attacks the rule of law and seeks to stifle democratic freedoms", stresses the note, adding that the fight against corruption is not aimed at parties or specific people, nor can it be conditioned or limited by electoral conveniences.
According to UNITA, with the approval of the bill on the right of democratic opposition, Angola "takes an important step in the journey towards the rescue of the rule of law" and allows that, even when the MPLA is in opposition, it does not fail to follow along. sensitive information about food safety, financial security, health safety or cyber security.
"It is the cycle of democracy. It is the principle of alternation in the exercise of political power in conjunction with the principle of continuity of the State", concludes the statement.
