Luanda - The National Assembly (AN) Wednesday suspended the special discussion of the Draft Law on the Institutionalization of Local Authorities and the Draft Law on the Effective Institutionalization of Local Authorities for agreements on positions and to draw up a single document.
The leaders of the ruling MPLA and opposition UNITA parliamentary groups decided to set up an inter-party negotiating committee to bring their positions closer together and draw up a single document that will be discussed by the specialized committees.
The parties with parliamentary seats will also take part in this meeting, scheduled for the next few days.
Both documents on the institutionalization of local authorities were approved in general without any votes against.
Franco Marcolino Nhani, a member of UNITA's parliamentary group, welcomed the measure, which he believes will speed up the approval of the law on the institutionalization of local authorities in Angola.
‘It's a good measure, I think that after the two bills were approved in general, the next step had to be this one. We are all to be congratulated,’ he said.
MP Franco Marcolino Nhani, also chairman of the AN's 4th Committee (Municipalities and Local Power), said he hopes that the parties will reach a conclusion that will facilitate the approval of the missing law.
For, the first vice-president of the MPLA parliamentary group, Virgílio Tiova, emphasized that the establishment of local authorities is in the interests of all Angolans and that the parliamentary groups must find a way for the two documents to converge and have a single document.
In his opinion, with this rapprochement of positions they are closer to approving a consensual law on the institutionalization of local authorities in the country.
‘As far as I've seen, there are more convergent and accepted norms than there are divergent ones, but our work will focus on bringing positions closer together,’ Tiova said.
Meanwhile, the mixed PRS-FNLA parliamentary group confirmed that it will also present its version based on the government’s proposal and UNITA's project on the institutionalization of Local Authorities.
The government’s proposal aims to establish the rules on the institutionalization of Local Authorities and the transition measures between the state's local administration and the local administration.
It determines the acts and formalities for the institutionalization of local authorities and the procedures that must be carried out to ensure a responsible and efficient transition from the state's local administration bodies to the local authorities, capable of safeguarding national unity and the balanced and harmonious development of the country.
The draft law, on the initiative of the UNITA parliamentary group, aims to effectively institutionalize local authorities in all municipalities.
The Municipal Legislative Package already includes ten of the 13 legal instruments that will regulate the exercise of municipal power in the country, as part of the ongoing project to implement municipalities.
Promulgated by the President of the Republic, the legal tools define the general framework for the attribution of competences of the municipal function, composition and functioning, as well as the principles and rules. DC/ART/AMP
