The previous day, the deputies gave a resounding No, with 123 votes against and one abstention, to the proposal of the parliamentary group of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita), the largest opposition party in country and which has 90 of the 220 seats in the Legislature.
The formation of the commission required an absolute majority of the current parliamentarians for its approval, which did not happen, because the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) group, together with the vote of a member of the Humanist Party of Angola, They cut those dreams.
One member of the Social Renewal Party abstained.
Unita did not calmly observe the result and, shouting: “Shame”, refused to participate in the vote, in addition to accusing the MPLA of violating legality, under the argument that the vote was made by showing the hand and not secretly.
“The MPLA has shown here that it is completely afraid, that it is in a weak government and that the country has turned its back on this party,” said the president of the opposition party and representative Adalberto Costa Júnior.
He added that they did not rule out the possibility of filing the case in court.
Unita hopes that a secret vote will increase votes from the MPLA itself, of which Lourenço is the leader, something rejected by representatives such as João “Jú” Martins, who considers the divisions of within the party in power as an invented story, shown with the large participation of the vote, he said.
THE PROCESS
The proposal to oust the president was formally presented on Thursday and, immediately, the president of the National Assembly, Carolina Cerqueira, summoned the members of the Permanent Commission for an extraordinary meeting.
The meeting agreed to resolve the issue in an extraordinary plenary meeting to be held on Saturday the 14th, where a decision will be made on the creation of the Temporary Commission which, if approved, will prepare the report and opinion of the said item within a specified period.
There is no violation of legality, deputy António Paulo, vice president of the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Commission of Parliament, stressed to the press.
He recalled that all the established measures were followed, but that in accordance with article 284 of the Regulations of the National Assembly, the initiative for the process of impeachment and removal of the President of the Republic corresponds to that body.
The requirement that the proposal be presented by a third of the current deputies was fulfilled, because Unita delivered 90 signatures supporting the motion; however, the plenary session did not accept the initiative, he said, so the process died.
Meanwhile, juror Moreira Lopes explained to Angola Public Television that voting by show of hands is the common method at this point in the process.
AFTER REJECTION
Three months ago, Unita announced that it would present the motion, saying that more than a year into his second term, Lourenço “destroyed the democratic process” and “consolidated an authoritarian regime that threatens the peace and rights of citizens.”
However, they precisely chose the moment to continue the initiative, just a few days before the president gave his State of the Nation address and the opening of the new Parliamentary Year (2023/2024), which is scheduled for October 16.
It added that the Constitutional Court of Angola declared the presidential decree of March 16, 2021, unconstitutional last week.
All these elements are aimed at damaging the image of Lourenço and the MPLA at a time when Angolan society has been greatly affected by the economic crisis and the increase in the price of basic products.
After rejecting the impeachment proposal of the president, the party in power has the challenge of developing the country and, at the same time, showing that the accusations of Unita in its 100-page project and more than 200 articles are true and have no basis. has begun to inform the public.
It is about restoring the possible wounds to its credibility that the process may have left in society but doing it with transparent actions and arguments.
