By: Victor Hugo Martins Teixeira
First of all, it is worth noting that the accountability of parties differs from the accountability of the electoral campaign, since the latter is regulated by Law n.º 36/11, of 21 December – Organic Law on Elections Gerais, article 80.º – 85.º and its primary purpose is to exercise financial control of the electoral process, in order to prevent the abuse of power, notably that of an economic nature, as well as to guarantee equality between competing formations.
On the other hand, the accountability of political parties and coalitions of political parties is regulated by the Law on Financing for Political Parties – Law no. , the inclusion of the budget allocation for parties and coalitions that have seats in the National Assembly, as well as the need for public accountability that must be prepared annually.
As for the accountability of the electoral campaign, our Angolan legal system stipulates that political parties and coalitions of parties that compete in the General Elections must report to the National Electoral Commission, within a maximum period of 45 days after the official proclamation of the results. , through reports and proof of all expenses and expenses, on the funds they received from the State in the context of the electoral campaign.
Therefore, the National Electoral Commission is responsible for screening revenues, expenses and expenses, by verifying invoices, bank statements and accounting records. It should be noted that all funding funds that are not used or that have been used for other purposes must be returned within 30 days to the National Electoral Commission.
However, in the event of an irregularity in the accounts of one of the political parties or coalitions of parties, the National Electoral Commission is responsible for notifying the party for the regularization of the accounts, within 15 days. In this way, the electoral administration body must decide within 45 days on the remedied irregularity. Therefore, if one of the competing political formations does not report within the established deadlines or if they have misused the funds allocated by the State, the Electoral Administration body has the obligation to report to the Court of Auditors, to consequently impute civil liability and criminal offense of the respective political party or coalition, as well as their representatives.
