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Angola’s National Assembly rejects move to impeach President
The opposition parties in Angola have convened an extraordinary parliamentary session aimed at impeaching President João Lourenço. The National Assembly of Angola rejected the proposal to create an ad hoc committee for impeaching the country’s President Joao Lourenco
The opposition parties in Angola have convened an extraordinary parliamentary session aimed at impeaching President João Lourenço. The National Assembly of Angola rejected the proposal to create an ad hoc committee for impeaching the country’s President Joao Lourenco.
The proposal, put forth by 90 deputies from the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), the country’s largest opposition party, was defeated with 123 votes against and one abstention, as per a statement from the parliament. The impeachment process requires the support of an absolute majority. The Angolan parliament consists of 220 members.
Local media said that the president can only be removed for crimes such as treason, espionage, bribery, embezzlement, or permanent incapacity to carry out the duties, citing Article 129 of the Constitution of Angola.
The president seemingly rebutted a request by the president of the UNITA opposition party to take the floor, mentioning that any citizen who wanted to make a speech on the state of the nation would be illegitimately exercising the powers that the constitution gives exclusively to the Head of State.
Lourenço dealt mainly with economic issues and the state of Angola’s public finances in the first part of his speech. He also highlighted the progress delivered by his administration. The speech drew shouts from the opposition and applause from lawmakers of the ruling party MPLA.
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Angola’s President stressed that he would continue with the process of withdrawing fuel subsidies and acknowledged the possibility of reducing the VAT on some products. João Lourenço anticipates a “slowdown in economic activity,” which will be offset by expected growth in the non-oil sector. Angola’s National Assembly is made up of 220 deputies, with the ruling MPLA party, holding the absolute majority.
