Luanda — The 15th Interim Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (AP-CPLP) Wednesday (22), in Luanda, with debates focused on strengthening parliamentary cooperation and mobility among member states.
At a press conference at the Angolan Parliament headquarters, the event's spokesperson, Deputy Virgílio de Fontes Pereira, reported that the first day of work included meetings of the Youth Networks and the Women Parliamentarians Network. Similarly, two of the three permanent committees of the AP-CPLP also met.
He mentioned that the Women's Network discussed the role of female deputies in promoting public integrity and leadership in times of crisis. In turn, the Youth Network analyzed issues related to digital citizenship, media literacy, and combating disinformation.
The two networks approved draft resolutions that will be considered by the meeting of the presidents of the national groups before proceeding to the Conference of Presidents of Parliaments.
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In the Committee on Legal Affairs, Democracy and Governance, the deputies analyzed the challenges related to cybersecurity crimes and discussed the institutional model of the Permanent Secretariat of the AP-CPLP, based in Luanda.
According to the spokesperson for the proceedings, a framework that confers legal personality to the Permanent Secretariat, allowing it to recruit staff, enter into contracts, manage bank accounts and directly administer the contributions of the Member States, remains to be defined.
He noted that, due to the lack of this framework, Angola continues to bear almost alone the operational expenses of the technical-administrative body of the Parliamentary Assembly. Regarding the Cooperation Committee, its approaches focused on the impact of the CPLP Mobility Agreement on the economies of the Member States, with participants considering the discussions productive for defining a common position.
In turn, the third Commission, responsible for language, culture and education issues, did not meet due to the absence of Brazil, the country that chairs the body. The session was postponed to Thursday, after the arrival of the delegation from Equatorial Guinea, which holds the vice-presidency.
On Thursday, the work continues with the meeting of the presidents of the national groups, who will validate the decisions of the networks and permanent commissions before their consideration by the Conference of Presidents of Parliaments.
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The solemn opening session of the 15th Interim Session of the AP-CPLP is scheduled for 2:30 pm and will be led by the president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the CPLP, Margarida Talapa, with the intervention of the president of the National Assembly of Angola.
