Africa-Press – Angola. UNITA (the Angolan opposition) today expressed “deep indignation” at the ruling MPLA’s vote against the demands to condemn the deaths of 16 elderly women in the Angolan province of Cuanza Norte and the “illegal detention” of two MPs.
The parliamentary group of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA, the largest opposition party) sent a request to the National Assembly to discuss a protest vote against the murder of 16 elderly peasant women in the Angolan province of Cuanza Norte, but this was rejected by the plenary.
Only UNITA, the Social Renewal Party (PRS), the Humanist Party of Angola (PHA) and the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), all in opposition, voted in favor of the request, totaling 78 votes.
MPs from the ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) voted against UNITA’s proposal with 107 votes, a stance that sparked outrage from the president of the main opposition party’s parliamentary group, Liberty Chiyaka.
Another request to change the agenda of the plenary meeting taking place today was also submitted to the plenary by UNITA, this one for the discussion and vote on a protest vote against the “illegal detention” of deputies Francisco Falua and João Quipipa Dias, but it also did not pass the plenary’s scrutiny, deserving votes against from the parliamentary majority.
Francisco Falua and João Quipipa Dias, UNITA deputies from the Cuanza Norte provincial constituency, were arrested last Sunday when they were participating in a march in solidarity with the death of elderly women in that province.
The murder of 16 peasant women in agricultural fields in the municipality of Cazengo, in Cuanza Norte, was the reason for Sunday’s demonstration, which was repressed by local police and resulted in several arrests, including those of the aforementioned deputies and a journalist, who were later released.
Liberty Chiyaka, reacting to the MPLA’s vote against both requests, expressed “indignation, revolt and deep sadness at the lack of human solidarity” shown in the vote against by the ruling party’s deputies.
“We have Angolan citizens who were murdered in the province of Cuanza Norte. It is the duty of the people’s representatives to show solidarity with the families of the victims, it is the duty of the deputies to protest against the violence that affects the families that we represent,” he said.
For the leader of the UNITA parliamentary group, it is also the duty of the deputies to show solidarity with the deputies of the National Assembly who were “illegally detained”, recalling that the parliamentarians committed to defending and respecting the Constitution and the laws.
In this plenary session, deputies also unanimously approved a vote of congratulations to the Angolan President, João Lourenço, who represents Angola in the rotating presidency of the African Union (AU).
The deputies considered that this presidency is the recognition of the personal commitment of the Angolan head of state as well as the role that Angola has been playing in favor of development and peace on the African continent.
The plenary also recorded the movement of deputies, with emphasis on the definitive replacement of seven UNITA deputies, among them Abel Chivukuvuku (leader of PRA JA Servir Angola) and José Alberto Catenda, who definitively lost his mandate due to the illegal use of protocol vehicles, and the suspension of the termination of the mandate of Mara Baptista Quiosa, current vice-president of the MPLA, who, in this way, resumes her seat in parliament.
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