Africa-Press – Angola. The president of the National Electoral Commission (CNE) announced, Thursday (9), in Luanda, the involvement of around 6,000 civic education agents and 465 trainers in the Electoral Civic Education Campaign.
Manuel Pereira da Silva, who was speaking during the launch of the Electoral Civic Education Campaign, explained that these agents will have the mission of raising awareness among voters in the country’s towns, villages, communes and municipalities.
The president of the CNE said that the process consists of providing clarifications to the electorate, through a set of actions aimed at mobilizing, educating and training citizens in the different phases of the electoral process.
“Electoral civic education aims to provide voters with knowledge that allows them to exercise their right to vote without any difficulty or constraint”, he stressed, adding that electoral civic education raises the social and civic awareness of citizens, so that they can actively participate. and responsible in public life, through clarification on how to vote, where to vote and why to vote.
The CNE, he continued, chose children and women as the main vehicle of direct influence in the mobilization of the family, so it urged electoral civic education agents to take these two target groups into account, for the success of the process.
The stages of the process
Lucas Kilundo, commissioner of the CNE, when presenting the Electoral Civic Education Campaign project, considered the holding of the General Elections on 24 August, which for the first time will have the participation of national citizens residing abroad.
“The exercise of the right to vote constitutes an act of citizenship for the consolidation of the democratic State and of law, therefore, it is up to the CNE to develop and promote a broad campaign of civic and electoral education to guarantee the broad knowledge of citizens about the different phases of the electoral process,” he said.
The Electoral Civic Education Campaign will be implemented in three phases. The first will focus on the importance of citizenship, democracy, the rights and duties of citizens in a Democratic State of Law and General Elections, in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Angola and the Organic Law on General Elections.
The second will be for citizens to verify their data and to know the location of polling stations and polling stations. At this stage, the CNE will facilitate the consultation of data and the location of polling stations, through the action of electoral civic education agents, using electronic devices and other auxiliary means.
The third phase will serve to strengthen citizens’ awareness, promoting activities that appeal to the active and conscious participation of voters in elections, with messages for the preservation and conservation of voter cards or identity cards, respect for differences of opinion, political tolerance and the exercise of individual freedoms and citizenship in a responsible manner.
Political parties
The MPLA vice president, Luísa Damião, considered the launch of the Electoral Civic Education Campaign to be “a good initiative” and defended the involvement of political parties in this process to strengthen democracy in the country.
“We appeal to political parties to follow this example in order to constantly raise the electoral civic education of citizens”, he said, adding that “electoral civic education is important for all citizens, because we intend to have civic, lasting and peaceful elections, which to Angolans”.
For Alexandre Sebastião André, CASA-CE deputy, the Electoral Civic Education Campaign “is a necessary step towards raising awareness among the electorate”, especially for those who are going to vote for the first time.
“In my opinion, this is a process that must follow a course and not be carried out only during election season”, he defended, stressing that “this act has sharpened some edges and clarified the weak information that society has on the subject”.
The National Assistant Secretary for Electoral Affairs of the PRS, António Francisco, called for the union of political parties, churches and non-governmental organizations for the success of the Electoral Civic Education Campaign.
“We must all be an agent of electoral civic education, because it is important that voters know what they are doing. We must not allow citizens to vote out of emotion, but that the vote be conscious, after being informed about the process. the process is fair and transparent throughout the national territory”, he defended.
For More News And Analysis About Angola Follow Africa-Press
