The proposed law to amend the Anti-Doping in Sports Law was sent "urgently" to parliament by the President, João Lourenço, and was approved by deputies in an extraordinary plenary meeting.
Deputy Rosa Branca Albino, who presented the joint opinion report on the specialty, signaled that the Anti-Doping Disciplinary Council must be guaranteed, under the terms of the law, functional, administrative and financial autonomy "as well as an absolutely independent character".
The new body must be created following a proposal from the ministerial department that oversees sport.
After a first amendment last March, the Law on Anti-Doping in Sport returned to the plenary of the National Assembly to amend six articles "out of alignment" with the international standards applicable to the matter, especially with the World Anti-Doping Code.
The document includes changes to points that must also comply with the standards of the International Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
This Friday, in her declaration of vote, the deputy of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), Maria Odete Tavares, considered that the conformity of Angolan legislation to the world anti-doping code is an "unquestionable" reality and therefore her parliamentary group voted in favor of this proposal, as it defends a sporting environment characterized by transparency and equity with the reinforcement of inspection mechanisms".
Conceição Faria Paulo, deputy of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), justified her party's favorable vote by believing that sporting practice is inseparable from sporting ethics and truth.
The UNITA parliamentary group, she stressed, is convinced that doping and results manipulation scandals are evils that must be eradicated in sport.
And the deputy of the PRS-FNLA mixed parliamentary group, Benedito Daniel said that the favorable vote results from the fact that Angola has participated over the years in highly competitive games and so that athletes can compete there on an equal footing with their opponents.
"Aware that this proposed amendment safeguards the pride of Angolans, we voted in favour", he concluded.
The Minister of Youth and Sports, Rui Falcão, clarified, in the specialized discussions, that there remained a fundamental issue related to the creation of the Anti-Doping Disciplinary Council, which in the previous wording of the law was the responsibility of the President of the Republic.
The next plenary meeting is scheduled for June 19th.
