The draft resolution was approved with 116 votes in favor of the majority party and without the participation of the parliamentary group of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) in the vote, as the opposition deputies left the room in protest against what they claim to be violations of the rules of the National Assembly and the Constitution.
The UNITA protest extended to the streets, with several videos being released on social media showing a group of deputies shouting through the streets "Down with the dictatorship" and "Angola belongs to the people, not the MPLA", as they walked on foot to the headquarters of his parliamentary group, in the center of Luanda.
According to the draft resolution approved this Thursday, the CNE now has nine commissioners from the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), four from UNITA and a representative appointed by each of the other three parties with parliamentary seats: Social Renewal Party (PRS), Humanist Party of Angola (PHA) and National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA).
Florbela Malaquias, from PHA, lamented the "prolonged impasse" in the appointment of this commission, considering that the resolution took three years to be concluded "in violation of the law and the regular functioning of the institutions".
The deputy considered that the PHA was "blatantly and blatantly disrespected", having "violated electoral justice and the effective and legitimate timely representation" of the party in the CNE, warning of "a precedent contrary to the principles of democracy" and the emergence of other biased interpretations of the law in the future, appealing despite everything for a favorable vote on the draft resolution.
José Semedo, from the MPLA, was convinced that this distribution of mandates respects the MPLA's absolute majority and "guarantees acceptable and fair representation to UNITA and other opposition parties, without compromising the principle of respect for minorities".
As for UNITA's proposal (8 representatives from MPLA, 5 from UNITA, one for PRS, one for PHA and one for FNLA) it says that it would result in numerical equality between the party winning the elections and the opposition, "i.e. , eight citizens for each side, which does not reflect an objective separation between the majority of the MPLA and the other parties", which in his opinion would call into question the integrity of the results of the 2022 elections and could affect the governance of the body.
"Most likely because it was aware of the inconsistency of its arguments, UNITA decided to leave the room in a gesture that is not compatible with political and democratic debate within the institutions", he concluded, before giving his vote in favor.
The law on the organization and functioning of the CNE provides in its article 7 that the commission is composed of 17 members, of which a judicial magistrate and 16 citizens appointed by the National Assembly, by an absolute majority of the deputies in office, on the proposal of the political parties and coalitions of political parties with parliamentary seats, obeying the principles of the majority and respect for minorities.
