Luanda — The government Wednesday here approved the organisation of the electoral registration updating phase, as well as its budget and a USD 75,000 subsidy to be granted to political parties to supervise the process.

Speaking to the press at the end of the Cabinet meeting, the co-ordinator of the Inter-ministerial Commission for the Electoral Process, Virgílio de Fontes Pereira informed that political parties with or without parliamentary seat will receive the financial support.

"They will receive this amount because the principle of equality was followed", explained Virgílio Fontes Pereira.

He explained that, the Finance Ministry will grant the monetary value to the national departments of legalised parties, in accordance to the proposal that they approved.

The Cabinet also analysed the need of promoting the civic education campaign to sensitise citizens who turn 18 years old until the date of the legislative elections scheduled for next September and those who did obtain their voting cards in the previous phase, and to be registered during the updating period.

"We wish to count on the collaboration of all political and social partners of the government and of the media, in order to disseminate the message to Angolans", he said.

The government also approved the principles of cooperation with the National Electoral Government (CNE), through the creation of protocols, which will include issues that represent the necessities of CNE in the fields of communication, logistics, transport, information and others.

The Cabinet also decided on the creation of the technical mechanism to promote the daily management of the implementation of these protocols, so that the government can fulfil its institutional responsibilities in terms of assistance to CNE.

Virgílio Fontes Pereira said that the Cabinet Council received information on the model adopted for updating the electoral registration process, which gives a greater leading role to municipal and communal administrations.

The normal electoral registration period in Angola happened countrywide from 15 November 2006 to 15 December 2007, and over eight million voters were registered.

In the first electoral registration phase, which lasted six months, political parties received USD 200,000 to supervise the process and 100,000 during the extension period (three months).