The agenda for the next plenary meeting, scheduled for June 19, was approved this Wednesday during the conference of the presidents of the parliamentary groups led by the head of the country's legislative body, Carolina Cerqueira.
Deputies must discuss and approve in that session the project that changes the composition of the CNE, in light of the results of the 2022 general elections, a document removed from the agenda of the plenary meeting on 23 May, at the request of the mixed parliamentary group PRS (Party of Social Renewal) and FNLA (National Front for the Liberation of Angola), both in opposition.
This resolution, approved in detail on May 14th, assigns nine commissioners to the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), five to UNITA, and to the mixed parliamentary group PRS-FNLA and the Humanist Party of Angola (PHA) one each.
The resolution that establishes the composition of the CNE, a legislative initiative of the parliamentary group of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), results from the votes of each party or coalition of political parties with parliamentary representation as a result of the general elections on 24 August 2022.
In a press conference, following the approval of this resolution in the specialty, the president of the PRS, Benedito Daniel, on behalf of the mixed parliamentary group, contested the number of representatives assigned (one commissioner) stating that both parties are not affiliated.
"We are deeply concerned about the possible approval of the resolution on the distribution of CNE commissioners from political parties with parliamentary seats by the National Assembly," said Benedito Daniel, quoted at the time by Novo Jornal.
This composition of representatives for the CNE raised various approaches from deputies, in the discussion on the specialty, with some questioning whether the mechanisms for assigning the number of members in the electoral body would be based on representativeness or proportionality.
In response, the president of the parliament's Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee, António Paulo, said that the numbers are the result of a concerted meeting of parliamentary leaders, without giving further details.
The CNE, an independent body that organizes, executes, coordinates and conducts electoral processes, is made up of 17 members, 16 of which are appointed by the National Assembly, by an absolute majority of the deputies in office.
The presiding member must be, according to the law, a judicial magistrate chosen through a curricular competition and appointed by the Superior Council of the Judiciary.
In the plenary session on 19 June, deputies will also discuss and vote on generally proposed laws to change Angolan passport laws and the regime for the exit and entry of national citizens, and the crimes of vandalism of public goods and services.
The plenary will also vote on the accession and ratification of two draft resolutions, on the creation of an African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights and on the Treaty of Creation of the African Medicines Agency.
