Angolan Parliament Bans Presidential
Election
Criticisms
have trailed the vote by the Angolan parliament banning
Presidential election in the country.
The votes on Thursday approved a new constitution that
strengthens the power of President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who
has ruled the country for the past 30 years.
The document abolishes direct presidential elections and the
role of prime minister.
On The Card
Under the new arrangement, the president will now automatically
be the leader of the party with parliamentary majority,
according to the new constitution.
It also allows the president to choose his own deputy to take on
the previous role of prime minister.
Boycott
Angola's main opposition UNITA party boycotted the vote in
parliament, claiming the constitutional process was flawed and
undermined democracy.
The next parliamentary elections are due in 2012. The last vote
in 2008, the first in 16 years was won overwhelmingly by Dos
Santo’s Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, the MPLA.
The Charter has to be approved by the Constitutional Court, a
step seen as mere formality.
Panos/Reuters/Qasim/Yinka
