Africa-Press – Angola. The Angolan parliament is once again debating a law on elections. But not on local elections – which remain in the drawer. For the opposition, this is a tactic by the MPLA to delay local power.
The Angolan Parliament is debating this week, as a matter of urgency, the reform of the general elections process scheduled for 2027. This is after the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) approved, last year, also as a matter of urgency, the Law on the Political-Administrative Division of the country, resulting in the creation of three more provinces and more than 300 municipalities.
The municipal package remains shelved. Why are local authorities not a priority in Angola?
For Alcino Kuvalela, secretary for local government of the largest opposition party, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), the ruling party continues to fear losing control over the municipalities.
“The MPLA wants to be the only one in power, in the economy, in culture. It wants to be the only one in everything. It has realized that it will not win the local elections, it will not win the municipalities if it calls them. Therefore, it prefers to postpone the local elections until it finds a way to implement them in a way that suits it”, criticizes Kuvalela.
Proposal on local authorities is in the drawer
More than five years have passed since the announcement of the first local elections in Angola by the Lourenço administration.
Several bills from the local government package were approved, but the central proposal on the institutionalization of local authorities was once again shelved, after the MPLA decided to consolidate all proposed laws on local authorities into a single document.
For the largest opposition party, this is all a ploy to postpone the local elections, because there is no technical or political impasse that could prevent the approval of the law on the institutionalization of local authorities.
Muata Sebastião, secretary general of the Democratic Bloc, also believes that the Government is trying to gain time.
The politician claims that the new initiatives regarding general elections are only aimed at maintaining the MPLA in power. “This is absolutely serious and determines not only the political profile of those who govern us, but also shows the quality of the governance we have.”
For Sebastião, “it was more important that institutions facilitate the institutionalization of local authorities, as they represent a fundamental milestone for the development and qualification of public space and our democracy”.
“The MPLA fears local authorities”
The failure to complete the approval of the municipal legislative package in Parliament since 2019 proves the government’s lack of commitment to the country, according to the coordinator of the Cazenga em Ação Platform, Xitu Milongu.
“Parliament had time to discuss other laws, but, compared to the local government process, they do not have the same interest and impact on the lives of citizens. For example, the law that changes the functioning of the CNE is a way that the Government found to facilitate electoral fraud. The objective is clear: the MPLA fears local government because it presupposes the sharing of power, and the MPLA does not want that”, assesses Milongu.
The opposition recognizes that, alone, it cannot force the implementation of local power in a Parliament dominated by the ruling party.
UNITA’s secretary for local government, Alcino Kuvalela, appeals: “The struggle of the deputies in Parliament alone is not enough because there are 90 comrades. We need to mobilize all Angolans, of all sensibilities, to stop the MPLA. If we don’t do this now, we are on the way to a state like North Korea.”
DW wanted to hear from the MPLA on the issue, and contacted the ruling party, but received no response.
For More News And Analysis About Angola Follow Africa-Press
