The Angolan government announced this Wednesday that it will present to Parliament proposals for laws on institutionalization, municipal security and the status of remuneration of municipal owners, considering their implementation an appropriate measure to “strengthen and consolidate democracy.”
The proposed laws on local government in Angola were considered this Wednesday at the third ordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers, chaired by Angolan President João Lourenço, and are to be sent to the National Assembly (Parliament) of Angola.
The ministers also considered for submission to the National Assembly a bill approving the Regulations on the remuneration of heads of local government bodies and services.
In its statement, the Angolan executive believes that the effective institutionalization of local authorities “is a relevant measure to strengthen and consolidate the democratic process taking place in the country.”
“And this embodies the practical implementation of the principle of administrative decentralization, the purpose of which is to bring service and decision-making centers closer to the population,” the document says.
Most of the laws that make up the municipal legislative package (a government initiative) have already been approved by the Angolan Parliament, and the only thing missing is the approval of the law on the institutionalization of local authorities, which has attracted criticism from the Angolan government. opposition and civil society in Angola over an alleged “lack of political will” by the MPLA, the party supporting the government.
Accusations and criticism in this regard were rejected by the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA, which has been in power since 1975).
The parliamentary group of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA, the largest opposition party) announced earlier this month that it would urgently submit to parliament an organic bill to institutionalize local authorities, deeming the justification for the planning year “outdated.”
At this meeting, the Council of Ministers also considered the draft Presidential Legislative Decree, which makes changes to the organization and mode of functioning of the subsidiary bodies of the President of the Republic, with the aim of reconfiguring the current Ministry of Culture and Tourism, giving way to its division into separate ministerial departments.
This collegiate body also approved the National Early Childhood Policy, the diploma determining the amount of fees levied for the conservation of the environment, the creation of the Manuel Rui Monteiro Cultural Center and the corresponding organic statute, the organic statutes of the ministries of finance. , planning, industry and trade, with the aim of bringing its organic and functional structure into conformity with the organization and mode of functioning of the auxiliary bodies of the President of the Republic.
In the area of foreign policy, the body also approved, for submission to the National Assembly for ratification or accession, resolutions approving the Treaty establishing the African Medicines Agency, the Marrakesh Treaty, to facilitate access to published works for people with disabilities. Visual, as well as a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Telecommunications, Information Technology and Social Communications of Angola and the Portuguese Space Agency – Portugal Space.