The swearing-in ceremony of Antónia Florbela Araújo, recently elected by the National Assembly by deliberation of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA, which holds the parliamentary majority), took place this Thursday at the beginning of the 11th ordinary plenary meeting of the current legislature.
The president of the parliament, Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos, who presided over the swearing-in ceremony, congratulated the new ombudsman and assured openness to support her in her mission.
Antónia Florbela Araújo occupied, until the date of her investiture, the position of Deputy Ombudsman, a vacancy that will be filled by Aguinaldo Cristóvão, whose Draft Resolution approving her election must be approved this Thursday by the parliament.
According to the Constitution of the Republic of Angola (CRA), the Ombudsman is an "independent administrative entity" that has as its object the defense of the rights, liberties and guarantees of the citizens, assuring, "through informal means, the justice and legality of the activity of the administration of justice".
The Ombudsman's activity, says the CRA, "is independent of the administrative and contentious means" provided for in the Constitution and the law.
The Ombudsman and Deputy Ombudsman have a five-year term, renewable once.
The parliament also approved this Thursday the loss of mandate due to the death of the UNITA deputy, Raul Danda, who died last May victim of illness, and in his place the deputy Piedoso Chipindo Bonga took office.
The deputy of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), the largest opposition party, Arlete Chimbinda, was nominated to be the president of the specialized committee of the parliament on Human Rights, Petitions, Complaints and Suggestions of the Citizens, in substitution of Raul Danda.
In this plenary, held at the headquarters of parliament in Luanda, were also sworn in Rafael Aguiar and Nfinda da Costa, nominated by the Broad Convergence for the Salvation of Angola - Electoral Coalition (CASA-CE) and the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), respectively, for the National Electoral Commission (CNE).
The 11th ordinary plenary meeting of the fourth legislative session of the parliament has on the agenda the discussion and voting on several proposed laws and draft resolutions.
