SADC Parliamentary Forum
The National Assembly (Portuguese: Assembleia Nacional) is the legislative branch of the government of Angola. The National Assembly is a unicameral body, with 220 members: 130 members elected by proportional representation and 90 members elected by provincial districts.
The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) has held a majority in the Assembly since independence. Due to the Angolan Civil War, elections were delayed for years until they were eventually held in September 2008. The most recent election was held in 2012, after a new constitution was adopted in 2010, increasing considerably the power of the President, and diminishing that of the National Assembly as well as that of the judiciary.
Jurisdiction
The Angolan government is composed of three branches of government: executive, legislative, and judicial. The executive branch of the government is composed of the President, the Vice-Presidents and the Council of Ministers. The legislative branch comprises a 220-seat unicameral legislature elected from both provincial and nationwide constituencies. On account of civil wars from independence, political power has been concentrated in the presidency. There are various temporary and permanent committees in the Assembly that help in the operational and administrative functions of the Assembly.[1]
Selection of members
The Unicameral Parliament of Angola was scheduled was originally constituted with 229 elected members.[2] for a period of three years after the elections. All Angolan citizens with 18 years of age were eligible to cast their vote. Citizens who were members of factional groups, had criminal record and who had not rehabilitated were barred from exercising their voting rights. The representatives of the provincial assemblies formed a college and they elected the representatives of the House of Parliament. The candidates were expected to be answerable to the citizens in public meetings, with their candidature approved by a majority in the province where they were getting nominated. A constitutional amendment on 19 August 1980 indicated that the Council formed during interim would be replaced by a national people's assembly and there would be 18 elected assemblies.[2]
Premises
The original building of the National Assembly from 1980, also called People's assembly was located in Estúdio/Restauração Cinema in urban district of Ingombota. The new building inaugurated on 9 November 2015 was initiated on 15 October 2009, while the construction started on 17 May 2010. It is a part of the Political Administrative Centre covering an area of 72,000 Sq.m and a built area of 54,000 sq.m. The Centre accommodates Presidential Palace, the Palace of Justice, the Defence Ministry, Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, the Episcopal Palace and the premises of the former National Assembly headquarters. The New Assembly has 4,600 seats overall with 1,200 in meeting rooms. The compound has four blocks each with six floors, a basement parking that can accommodate 494 vehicles, out of which 34 is reserved for VIPs. The construction was carried out by Portuguese company Teixeira Duarte under the supervision of Special Works Office of the Government of Angola. The building was inaugurated by José Eduardo dos Santos on 10 November 2015.[3]
Performance of political parties
Jose Eduardo dos Santos won the 1980 and 1986 elections and became the first elected President of the country. At the time, the country was a one-party state, with the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola - Party of Labour (MPLA-PT) as the sole legal party.[4] As a result, most candidates were members of the party, and two-thirds were re-nominated from 1980 elections in the 1986 elections. The civil war continued with UNITA fighting against the MLPA, with both parties taking international support. There was a cease-fire agreement during 1989, with the leader of UNITA, Jonas Savimbi, but it collapsed soon. As a part of its peace efforts, MLPA dropped its theme of Marxism–Leninism and moved over to socialism. During May 1991, Dos Santos and Savimbi signed a multiparty democracy agreement in Lisbon.[5][6] Dos Santos won the 1992, 2008 and 2012 elections as well in the Presidency elections, but different parties started performing. During the 1992 elections, when the first multi-party elections were held, UNITA secured 34.1 per cent vote in the assembly and won 70 seats. But during the 2008 and 2012, their win was reduced to 16 and 32 seats respectively, while the ruling MPLA won 191 and 175 seats respectively.[7][8]
Presidents of the National Assembly of Angola
Presidents (Speakers) of the People's Assembly of Angola
| Name | Entered office | Left office |
|---|---|---|
| Roberto Victor de Almeida [2] | 1992 | 2008 |
| Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos [3] | September 30, 2008 | 2010 |
| Paulo Kassoma | February 9, 2010 | September 27, 2012 |
| Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos | September 27, 2012 | Incumbent |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Assembly_(Angola)
The Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF) was established in 1997 in accordance with Article 9 (2) of the SADC Treaty as an autonomous institution of SADC It is a regional inter-parliamentary body composed of fifteen (15) parliaments representing over 3500 parliamentarians in the SADC region. These member parliaments are Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Seychelles, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The Forum seeks to bring regional experiences to bear at the national level, to promote best practices in the role of parliaments in regional cooperation and integration as outlined in the SADC Treaty and the Forum Constitution. Its main aim is to provide a platform for parliaments and parliamentarians to promote and improve regional integration in the SADC region, through parliamentary involvement.
The objectives of the Forum address a wide range of issues, including but not limited to:
- Promotion of human rights, gender equality, good governance, democracy and transparency;
- Promotion of peace, security and stability;
- Hastening the pace of economic cooperation, development and integration on the basis of equity and mutual benefits;
- Facilitating networking with other inter-parliamentary organizations;
- Promoting the participation of non-governmental organisations, business and intellectual communities in SADC activities;
- Familiarising the peoples of SADC with the aims and objectives of SADC; and
- Informing SADC of the popular views on development and issues affecting the region.
SEYCHELLES - Needle exchange must be accepted in the fight against HIV/Aids!
This was one of the main conclusions from a focus group discussion which was held in November at the National Assembly on Ile du Port.
The discussion was led by Professor Timothy Quinlan, a course director at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.
Professor Quinlan is also a consultant for the South African Development Community Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF). He was in Seychelles conducting a HIV/Aids and governance programme baseline study. The aim of his visit was to collect baseline information which will result in a better HIV/Aids advocacy policy for SADC parliamentarians.
Among the audience were the local World Health Organisation (WHO) representative Dr Cornelia Atsyor, the chairperson of the National Aids Council Dr Anne Gedeon, National Assembly staff, journalists and representatives from different work organisations.
Professor Quinlan concentrated the discussion around the practices and trends which should be monitored in the fight against the HIV/Aids pandemic.
He emphasised that continuous monitoring is important as even if the figures tend to show that only a small number of people here are infected and affected, the prevalence rate is too high for Seychelles.
Delegates identified social ills as the main causes to the spread of HIV/Aids and other diseases such as different forms of hepatitis. Those include prostitution, drug and alcohol abuse, as well as multiple partnerships. They agreed that the spread of communicable diseases puts pressure on the health system and on the country's economy in general.
They also raised other concerns linked to HIV/Aids such as school drop-outs, teenage pregnancy, under use of health facilities, a general culture of patients not taking their medicine, non-access to contraceptives for girls under 18 years of age without parental consent and sometimes poor data collection.
On the last note it was observed that contact tracing is done as a form of monitoring. However, some patients do not or take time to admit their practices like homosexuality and drug addiction.
The strong point of the meeting was the seemingly unanimous agreement that needle exchange among hard drug users must be accepted as a means of protection against HIV/Aids and hepatitis. Some doctors have expressed discontent over their inability to offer a syringe to a patient, when they know that he or she will go and share one with a potentially infected friend immediately after leaving the clinic.
They have agreed that Seychelles has very good legislation where HIV/Aids is concerned, but there is a gap to be filled in this area.
It has been some time now since various HIV/Aids activists and concerned organisations have been calling for the introduction of a needle and syringe programme (NSP) or syringe-exchange programme (SEP). This is a health service that allows injecting drug users (IDUs) to obtain needles at little or no cost.
It is based on the philosophy of harm reduction that attempts to reduce the risk factors for diseases such as HIV/Aids and hepatitis. While NSPs provide most or all equipment free of charge, exchange programmes require users to return their used syringes to be exchanged for new ones.
A comprehensive 2004 study by the WHO found a "compelling case that NSPs substantially and cost effectively reduce the spread of HIV among IDUs and do so without evidence of increasing the level of injecting drug use."
These programmes exist in most European countries and in the United States. Others like Australia, Brazil, Canada, New Zealand, Iran and neighbouring Mauritius have also adopted them.
The meeting with professor Quinlan also focused on other solutions to the spread of HIV/Aids. These include systematic use of condoms, prevention campaign among young people who are not yet sexually active and who have not had contact with drugs, more awareness through songs and other forms of art, targeting specific areas such as prisons and putting into place a HIV/Aids workplace policy.
As Seychelles does not benefit from the Global Fund to fight Aids, tuberculosis and malaria because of its high GDP, alternative funding must be sought.
*This article, which was slightly edited, was first published on: http://www.nation.sc/article.html?id=243781
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