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Politics

AN approves draft law that simplifies birth registration through the voter card

The National Assembly approved this Wednesday, in general, the draft law that will enable Angolan citizens with a voter's card to register their birth, as part of the simplification of this process.

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The draft law amending Law no. 6/15, of 8 May, on the Simplification of Birth Registration, was approved with 134 votes in favour of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), 36 against, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), and 15 abstentions, the Broad Convergence for the Salvation of Angola - Electoral Coalition (CASA-CE), the Party for Social Renewal (PRS) and deputies not part of a parliamentary group.

In the presentation of the document, the Secretary of State for Justice, Orlando Fernandes, stressed that it is of general domain, that a high number of citizens with voter cards, issued under Law No. 8/15 of 15 June, the Law on the Official Electoral Registration, do not have their birth certificate made.

According to Orlando Fernandes, the referred legal diploma allowed, in an exceptional way, the voter card to be granted to citizens who did not have their identity card or birth certificate and could present documents with photo, signature or fingerprint or witness evidence.

The proposal for a law is based on the need to extend the birth registration of citizens who are in the above-mentioned condition, justified the ruler.

"The legislative solution presented will allow, within the scope of birth registration, the birth certificate to be drawn up, based on the presentation of the voter's card and dispensed with all other steps, with the exception of confirmation of the data from the platform I referred to," he stressed.

In response to MEPs' concerns, Orlando Fernandes stressed that there are "four million citizens who are out of citizenship", and it is necessary that, through this inclusion process, "they are not only citizens on paper, but in fact they can exercise their rights and duties and this is the way".

In his explanation of vote, the non-attached Member of Parliament, Lindo Bernardo Tito, stressed that the arguments put forward did not convince, considering this proposal "more bizarre than the first", referring to the bill passed, Tuesday, in general, which allows the request for the issuance of the identity card, through the voter card.

"We all know that those who do not have the registration are seeking to obtain a registration because they do not have a document on which to base their registration, but seeking an electoral card to support their birth registration is unacceptable in the current context", he said.

The FNLA's representation considered that, like the proposed civil registration law, the proposal to simplify birth registration presents aspects that do not cover all the dangers raised and discussed in the plenary session.

Lucas Ngonda stressed that, in all countries, the acquisition of nationality obeys criteria and formulas to safeguard the country's citizenship, while "in Angola citizenship is offered this way".

The parliamentary group of CASA-CE voted to abstain, as the arguments put forward by the proponent "are not enough" to make us understand and accept the use of the voter's card, as a facilitating tool or access to birth registration for adults.

"This is all because the way the electoral registration process was conducted allowed access to this process for non-Angolan citizens and, therefore, we believe that this mechanism could hurt, violate our nationality law, because it will be a way to confer Angolan identity to certain citizens not by normative means, as stipulated in our legal system on this matter," said Manuel Fernandes.

Representative Mihaela Weba, on behalf of the UNITA parliamentary group, said she had several doubts that, from a practical point of view, the procedure, smoothness, transparency and viability of the data contained in the database of larger citizens are not being defrauded by the Constitution and the nationality law.

"We want to alert the proponent to due care, because the fact that there are foreign citizens, illegal or not, with voter's cards we may be attributing Angolan nationality to people who should not have it, because they have not respected the laws of the Republic of Angola", he stressed.

For the MPLA, Deputy Tomás da Silva stressed that birth registration has always been, as now, at the centre of his party's most glaring concerns and the public policies of the Angolan people.

"The largest opposition party (UNITA) now refuses to give a voice to those Angolans who elected this parliament with a voter's card, when they know that the cases of foreigners with false voter's cards have been duly clarified by the competent organs of the state", he said.

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