Luanda, ANGOLA, November 15 - The general secretary of the Angolan National Assembly (Parliament), Agostinho de Neri, last Tuesday denied the allegations recently put into circulation, suggesting that there will be cuts to the privileges of MPs in the present legislature. ,

The matter became a target of public speculation when an Angolan private weekly newspaper put out the information that the Angolan MPs were about to lose some of their privileges, such as assistance (subsidy) with telecommunication means, fuel for their official cars and the help they get with the payment of trips.   

According to the said newspaper, the National Assembly had recently given up on the idea of purchasing Lexus cars for the MPs of the new legislature, choosing, instead, to acquire more economic cars.    

However, Agostinho de Neri stated categorically that the privileges enjoyed by the MPs will be unaltered.

“What is happening is that due to the scarcity of resources we have been giving priority to what is essential”, explained the MP.

He went on to say that any possible cut to the privileges of MPs has to be backed by a legal tool.

“(…) The rights of MPs are part of an approved Remuneration Status for MPs, which is a management tool”, he said.

In this ambit, MP Franco Marcolino Nhany of the opposition UNITA party said to journalists that he hopes members of Parliament do get the necessary conditions to be able to perform their duties with dignity.

“We are politicians elected by the people to represent them in a dignifying manner, so we want to have this permanent connection. Let them send whatever cars are necessary, as long as they are of the type that enable us to go and talk to the people in all parts of the country”, he stressed.

On his turn, Lindo Bernardo Tito, CASA-CE coalition MP, defended the need for the strengthening of the work capacity of the parliamentarians, instead of seeing a focus on privileges that might end up bringing about more benefits to the MPs rather than to their work.   

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.