Adalberto Costa Júnior was speaking at a press conference that brought together the leaders of the Frente Patriótica Unida (FPU) to present a statement on the political situation in the country, with an impact on the organization of the general elections, which will take place in the second half of August this year.
The XIII ordinary congress of the União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola (UNITA) was noted this month by the Constitutional Court (TC), as well as five other political parties, including the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA), in power, also held in December last year.
According to Costa Júnior, the annotation of congresses, namely UNITA's, "is something long awaited by all UNITA members, who legitimately and democratically participated in the process of electing the party's president and holding its congress".
The president of UNITA stressed that the congress absolutely respected the laws, took place in a democratic environment and had the transversal civil society to observe, namely the Union of Angolan Journalists.
"Of course, when the regularization of acts is delayed, which even have a deadline, and when these deadlines are exceeded at the level of institutions with extreme responsibility, these institutions are exposed and when a set of non-regulated parties accumulates, limited in their functioning, due to institutional delay, it is the country that loses out, it is the institutions of the country that lose out", he argued.
For Adalberto Costa Júnior, the annotation of the congresses, not only of UNITA, but of other parties as well, "surely served as some relief to all Angolans and not only, who look with great concern at the instability generated by these delays".
"Because, in fact, the consequence of these procedures is the generation of political instability, difficult to accept in an environment of an electoral approach, a few months away from the elections, of an uncertainty thrown to the whole of society, where those who by right are not complying with what the Angolans were waiting for", said the politician, adding that "it is good that it has been noted".
With the annotation of the UNITA congress by the TC, the President, João Lourenço, designated Adalberto Costa Júnior as a member of the Council of the Republic, as well as the leader of the Frente Nacional para Libertação de Angola (FNLA), Nimi a Simbi.
For Adalberto Costa Júnior, it is yet another constitutional right that was delayed and that did not need to be associated with the annotation of congresses.
"We saw that the decree appeared on the same day as the annotation. The intention is to say that one fact is linked to the other and I mean that one fact and the other have nothing to do with each other. previous congress, the inauguration was prior to the annotation of the congress, it is just an example that I leave here", he pointed out.
"We were questioning the Constitution of the Republic, that is a right of the democratically elected president. And when institutions effectively delay respect for the Constitution, once again, it is the institutions that do badly, it is the country that does badly, not It's us. In fact, we all did poorly, but the responsibility is clearly directed", he added.
Last week, before the annotation of the congress, an alleged ruling by the Constitutional Court circulated on social media, in which the UNITA congress was, for the second time, annulled.
Regarding the ruling, Adalberto Costa Júnior said that the document was not a surprise for UNITA, because it was already known to him.
"This document was put out there, for us without any surprise. We had known it for a long time, it was announced, including departure dates, it was publicized by its actors, who had many parties in their own circles of influence", he stressed.
Adalberto Costa Júnior observed that this situation "only exposed the institution, because it came with the stamp of the Constitutional Court" and "there is no one who believes that it was not produced inside, with outside interference".
"And, therefore, the fact that this publication was made on the sidelines of what is the formal procedure of a court with such responsibility - we regret - came, unfortunately, to greatly expose Angola's institutions in all their dimension, internally and exhibited internationally", he considered.
Asked to comment on an impeachment process of the XIII party congress, which is taking place in the TC, Adalberto Costa Júnior preferred not to enter into a concrete approach, but commented that all legal procedures were complied with.
"All the rest, we will continue to do our work and we will continue to believe that the institutions are back on track and we will seek to contribute to the deepening of democracy in our country", he underlined.
A group of UNITA militants appealed to the TC to derail the date of the XIII Congress that took place from December 2nd to 4th of last year, claiming that the conclave was scheduled in a climate of "intimidation".
