Angolan Parliament
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The National Assembly () is the
legislative branch A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the authority, legal authority to make laws for a Polity, political entity such as a Sovereign state, country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with th ...
of the government of
Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...
. Angola is a
unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...
country so the National Assembly is the only legislative chamber at the national level. The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (
MPLA The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (, abbr. MPLA), from 1977–1990 called the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola – Labour Party (), is an Angolan social democratic political party. The MPLA fought against the P ...
) has held a majority in the Assembly since Angolan independence in 1975. Multi-party elections were delayed under
Jose Eduardo dos Santos Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. Given name Mishnaic and Talmudic periods * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galilean * Jose ben Halafta ...
quasi-dictatorial rule for decades until the
1992 Angolan general election General elections were held in Angola on 29 and 30 September 1992 to elect a President of Angola, President and National Assembly of Angola, National Assembly, the first time free and multi-party elections had been held in the country. They foll ...
. Another election wouldn't be held until
2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
due to the second phase of the
Angolan Civil War The Angolan Civil War () was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. It was a power struggle between two for ...
. After a new constitution was adopted in 2010, the first election under this new constitution was held in
2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
.


Election

The 220 members of the National Assembly are elected by two methods: Ninety are elected in 18 five-seat constituencies, by
party-list proportional representation Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a system of proportional representation based on preregistered Political party, political parties, with each party being Apportionment (politics), allocated a certain number of seats Apportionm ...
using the d'Hondt method. The other 130 are selected by party-list proportional representation using closed lists, allocated proportionally to the nationwide vote tallies.


Jurisdiction

As of 2015, the Angolan government was 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 Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...
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.


Selection of members as of 1980

The Unicameral Parliament of Angola was scheduled originally in 1980 to be constituted of 229 elected members. 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 a criminal record and who had not been 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.


Premises

The original building of the National Assembly from 1980, also called People's Assembly, was located in Estúdio/Restauração Cinema in
Luanda Luanda ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Angola, largest city of Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Ang ...
s urban district of
Ingombota Ingombota is one of the six urban districts that make up the municipality of Luanda, in the province of Luanda, the capital city of Angola. Ingombota is home to the central business district of Luanda, Angola. The economic, political and symboli ...
. The new building was initiated on 15 October 2009, construction started on 17 May 2010 and it was inaugurated on 9 November 2015. 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 a Presidential Palace, the Palace of Justice, the Defence Ministry, the 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 José Eduardo Van-Dúnem dos Santos (; 28 August 1942 – 8 July 2022) was an Angolan politician and military officer who served as the second president of Angola from 1979 to 2017. As president, dos Santos was also the commander-in-chief of th ...
on 10 November 2015.


Historical performance of political parties

The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (
MPLA The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (, abbr. MPLA), from 1977–1990 called the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola – Labour Party (), is an Angolan social democratic political party. The MPLA fought against the P ...
) has held a majority in the Assembly since Angolan independence in 1975.
Jose Eduardo dos Santos Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. Given name Mishnaic and Talmudic periods * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galilean * Jose ben Halafta ...
won the 1980 and 1986 "elections" and became the first elected President of the country, when it was a
one-party state A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a governance structure in which only a single political party controls the ruling system. In a one-party state, all opposition parties are either outlawed or en ...
known as the
Angolan People's Republic The People's Republic of Angola () was the self-declared people's democratic state which governed Angola from its independence in 1975 until 25 August 1992, during the Angolan Civil War. It was led by the People's Movement for the Liberation ...
, with the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola - Party of Labour (
MPLA-PT The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (, Abbreviation, abbr. MPLA), from 1977–1990 called the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola – Labour Party (), is an Angola, Angolan social democratic political party. The MPLA f ...
) as the sole legal party. As a result, most candidates were members of the party, and two-thirds were re-nominated from 1980 elections in the
1986 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1986. Africa * 1986 Angolan legislative election * 1986 Gabonese presidential election * 1986 Mozambican general election * 1986 Sierra Leonean parliamentary election * 1986 Somali presidential electio ...
. The
Angolan Civil War The Angolan Civil War () was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. It was a power struggle between two for ...
(1975-2002) continued with UNITA fighting against the MLPA, with both parties taking international support. During 1989, there was a cease-fire agreement with the leader of UNITA,
Jonas Savimbi Jonas Malheiro Sidónio Sakaita Savimbi (; 3 August 1934 – 22 February 2002) was an Angolan revolutionary, politician, and rebel military leader who founded and led the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola ( UNITA). UNITA was on ...
, but it collapsed soon. As part of its peace efforts, MLPA dropped its theme of
Marxism–Leninism Marxism–Leninism () is a communist ideology that became the largest faction of the History of communism, communist movement in the world in the years following the October Revolution. It was the predominant ideology of most communist gov ...
and moved over to
democratic socialism Democratic socialism is a left-wing economic ideology, economic and political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and wor ...
. In May 1991, Dos Santos and Savimbi signed a multiparty democracy agreement in
Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
. Dos Santos won the 1992, 2008 and 2012 elections as well in the Presidency elections, but since 1992 multiple parties started performing. During the 1992 election, the first multi-party election, UNITA secured 34 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. A new constitution was adopted in 2010, the first elections under this new constitution were held in
2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
.


See also

* List of presidents of the National Assembly of Angola *
Politics of Angola The current political regime in Angola is presidentialism, in which the President of the Republic is also head of state and government; it is advised by a Council of Ministers, which together with the President form the national executive power. ...
*
List of legislatures by country This is a list of legislatures by country. A "legislature" is the generic name for the national parliaments and congresses that act as a plenary general Deliberative assembly, assembly of Representative democracy, representatives and that have th ...


References


External links


Constitutional Commission

Page under construction
{{Coord, 8, 49, 10, S, 13, 13, 43, E, source:kolossus-plwiki, display=title Politics of Angola Political organizations based in Angola
Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...
Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...