"Our opponents, even though they are part of the organization of the elections, because they are in the National Assembly where laws are passed, including electoral laws, even though they are in the National Electoral Commission, where they have commissioners at all levels, being, therefore, part of the deliberations taken at these levels, are carrying out an internal and external campaign to discredit the elections even before they take place", said João Lourenço.
The party leader, who spoke at the opening of the 1st extraordinary meeting of the Central Committee of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), considered "unprecedented in the history of elections in the world" the position of his opponents "since electoral disputes can only arise after the elections are held and under the terms defined by law".
The president of the ruling party in Angola stressed that the Constitution of the Republic establishes that general elections are held every five years, and defines that in that electoral year they must necessarily take place in the month of August, "so it is not a matter of choice" of any entity, but a legal obligation enshrined, not in an ordinary law, but in the Constitution", he said.
"Some political formations are showing obvious signs of not being prepared to contest these elections, because they have wasted time promoting and organizing activities of social destabilization, vandalism, which have even attacked public security and the public heritage that belongs to all of us", expressed.
According to João Lourenço, "the MPLA will continue to prepare properly for the electoral dispute in August of this year, which the President of the Republic, in due course, must convene, in respect of the Constitution that we are all obliged to comply with".
The also head of state stated that the mass events of the party "have been a success, thanks to the high level of organization, planning and execution that the party committees at different levels have been able to imprint".
"The vibrant floods at our rallies, marches and other mass public events, with the dazzling images of our colors, red, black and yellow, are an important barometer for measuring the popularity and degree of acceptance that our party enjoys with the Angolan people and society", he guaranteed.
According to the MPLA leader, this work, which he considered "important, but not sufficient", will continue to be carried out, followed by another "perhaps more important, the work of proximity to the party's action committees".
"That will guarantee us that on election day voters will actually show up at polling stations and vote correctly," he said.
"Although we are in the cold season - the cacimbo as we commonly call it -, the heat of the pre-campaign and the campaign itself will rise, in a good way. We will work more and sleep less to guarantee victory, but we have to know how to manage the time and our energies, manage the physical and emotional burden, manage all kinds of resources, whether human or logistic in the broadest sense", exhorted João Lourenço.
