Africa-Press – Angola. The President of the National Electoral Commission (CNE), Manuel Pereira da Silva, exalted this Saturday, in Luanda, the role of the institution in the consolidation of representative democracy in the country.
Manuel Pereira da Silva said that it was the role of the CNE to ensure the holding of free, fair and periodic elections, as well as to contribute to the improvement of democracy.
The CNE president was speaking at a commemorative ceremony of the 18th anniversary of the swearing in, in 2005, of the first members of the National Electoral Commission, successor to the former National Electoral Council, which organized the first elections in the country, in 1992.
The ceremony paid homage to the former heads of the National Electoral Council, with emphasis on its first president, António Caetano de Sousa, and the general director of the 1992 elections, Onofre dos Santos.
Caetano de Sousa, who chaired the Council for the 1992 elections and the Commission for the 2008 elections, pointed to the agreements of Alvor (15 January 1975 ) and Bicesse (31 May 1991) as the genesis of the democratic process, the latter the latter who introduced the first constitutional reform, leaving the party plurality in shape.
He added that the Council and later the National Electoral Commission were always autonomous in relation to the Executive, although there was a link of collaboration between them.
He noted that, since the first elections, changes have been introduced to improve the processes of organization and holding of elections.
In turn, the general director of the 1992 elections, Onofre dos Santos, believes that the first electoral process in the country should be a case study and a university chair.
The also retired judge of the Constitutional Court underlined that the constraints experienced in the electoral process 31 years ago, its protagonists, motivation, should be studied by universities.
At the ceremony, the plaque in the CNE auditorium was unveiled, which was renamed António Caetano de Sousa, and honorable mentions were awarded to former members of the National Electoral Council of 1992. The performance of the former presidents of the CNE, Suzana Inglês, was also praised ( 2010-20129) and André da Silva Neto (2012-2020).
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