Luanda - The Vice President of the ruling MPLA party, Luísa Damião, on Thursday deemed the new premises of the National Electoral Commission (CNE) a milestone in the history of elections in Angola, stressing that it will help improve the quality of the work of this institution.
Speaking on the sidelines of the inauguration ceremony of the building, the MPLA vice-president said the new facilities dignify Angola in the process of strengthening democracy.
Ms Damião said her party is committed to mobilizing voters towards increasing the civic culture, so that the elections can take place in an orderly and peaceful way.
The new premises of the CNE, inaugurated by the Angolan President, João Lourenço, are valued at more than 44 million US dollars. It comprises four floors, built in an area of about 10,900 square metres.
Present at the ceremony, the presidents of the Social Renewal Party (PRS), Benedito Daniel, and of the CASA-CE coalition, Manuel Fernandes, said they expects the building to provide some comfort and dignity to the institution that from election to election looked for a place to settle in.
According to the CASA-CE coalition leader, along with the inauguration of the CNE facilities, it is necessary to work for the smoothness of the electoral process and the need for equal treatment of parties by the media, the tallying of the votes at the level of provinces and municipalities to enable elections to be fair, free and transparent.
The leader of the PRS congratulated the CNE for the building and advocated an investment in the provincial and municipal commissions, for greater compatibility with the means installed at the headquarters.
The inaugurated building is named after Margaret Anstee, British diplomat who was in Angola in 1992, representing the Secretary-General of the United Nations, at the time of the first elections in the country.
