• Parliamentary development

Parliamentary development

The post-indepedence era, experienced in many African countries as a period of flourishing democracy, has, in Angola, been characterised by civil war and political upheaval. This working paper examines the legislative power in Angola, and assesses the political role of the Angolan Parliament in a post-conflict democratisation setting.

The paper analyses the development of the institution since the introduction of multipartyism and the first parliamentary elections in 1992. This analysis enables an examination of the extent to which the Parliament fulfils the ideal role of democratic accountability.

The methodology used in this case study involved a review of existing literature and written sources (such as official documents and press reviews), a survey covering 10% of all MP's and indepth interviews with 10 MP's.

The author concludes that:

• Angola has a distinctly presidential system, without any tendencies or even aspirations for parliamentarism
• the facts that the parliament is elected in two separate elections and MP's cannot at the same time be ministers of government could give the parliament autonomy and legitimacy
• the parliament's mandate is weak, with no more than a consultative role in forming the government and appointing higher positions within the state
• it also lacks a lot in terms of financial and technical competence
• despite this weakness, there is room for a socialisation process in which MP's find additional value in pushing for more parliamentary autonomy and authority
• there seems to be a sense of pride in the fact that the parliament is able to function with representatives coming from former conflicting sides in the civil war.

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