“If we approve the package by March, [we have] May, June, July and [electoral] registration has ended. Do we have reason to postpone the local elections?”, asked the UNITA leader addressing the militants and supporters who filled a street in central Luanda to celebrate the start of this year's political activity.
For the leader of the Black Rooster party the government should "embrace transparency" by updating the electoral registers and not with the "registers that created controversy" creating grounds for contestation UNITA, warned, "will ask for responsibilities".
Referring to the MPLA, which unlike UNITA advocates gradualism in local elections, Adalberto da Costa Júnior said that “there are those who are afraid of local authorities because of the loss of accumulated rights all these years”.
It was just after 2:30 pm on Saturday when the president took the podium, where other leaders and journalists were already jostling for the best place, to express UNITA's priorities for this year, in a speech that winked at the youth and women whose deficit in politics still considered "a challenge".
At this beginning of UNITA's political activity in 2020, Adalberto spoke about his visits to the different provinces of the country last year, assuring Angolans: “We will not let you down, we will not let you down”.
And he reported his recent near-encounter with President João Lourenço in Lobito (Benguela), stressing that “it is good for the President to pedal with the people”, but should not undermine the routine of citizens closing the streets where he goes pass. "It is important to come down to the people, to be close, but we need to lose fear," he urged.
Adalberto da Costa Júnior considered that there is excess power attributed to the President and that the powers of the institutions should be rescued.
Recalling that the new governance has “done everything to make a difference from the previous one” [by José Eduardo dos Santos], he called for seriousness and “fulfillment of commitments”, but also deep institutional reforms to get out of the crisis, underlining that the country is going its fourth year of recession.
The UNITA leader, who spoke for about an hour, also introduced the leadership team in Luanda, led by the provincial secretary, Manuel Ekuikui, asking for “dedication and proximity work” so that they are close to the people and know their suffering.
