"I think a democracy is tested with the transition of power and ours have not yet been tested at that level", said José Eduardo Agualusa, in an interview with Lusa, in Maputo.
The first consequence of the lack of alternation of power is "appropriation of the State apparatus" by dominant political forces, noted the writer.
"This is one of the great challenges in both Angola and Mozambique, the de-partisanship of the State apparatus, which results from the fact that the parties that created independence never left power again," he said.
The dominance of these political forces in these countries over the last few decades has created a "series of vices", including aspects linked to the ideological lines of these forces, warned the writer.
"Today it is difficult to say, for example, such simple things as whether the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) is left-wing or right-wing. Over the years, the MPLA has joined forces with a series of opportunists, people who have no nor defined political ideology", declared the author of "Os Vivos e os Outros", adding that it would be beneficial for the party in power in Angola to move to the opposition.
"If (the MPLA) went into opposition, it would be an opportunity to purify, rejuvenate and renew itself. I believe that an alternation of power would be positive for Angola", highlighted Agualusa.
The writer finds similarities between the democracies of the two countries, pointing out limitations and gains that mark Maputo and Luanda, at a time when the critical sense of society in both countries is growing.
"In this process of democracy, let's say that Mozambique has made some progress, in the sense that it has, for example, had elections for local power for a long time, including a transition at the level of local power and in Angola we have never had elections for power location", he said.
In Angola, the debate on local authorities is already in parliament, and the legislation is expected to be approved in plenary to give way to the country's first local authority ballot.
If, on the one hand, Mozambique, already with six local elections, appears to be at an "advanced stage" with regard to the choice of local leaders, on the other, Maputo faces the challenge of the lack of a "quality opposition" to face to the party in power since independence (Frelimo), highlights the Dublin literary prize (2017).
"There is something very important for democracy and that is the quality of the opposition. Angola has a united opposition with quality and, unfortunately, Mozambique does not yet have one. If Mozambique is more advanced on the issue of democracy [with elections for local power], on the other hand, it seems that in Angola today there is a positive dynamic of change that does not exist in Mozambique", he defended.
The MPLA and the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo) are the political formations in power in Angola and Mozambique, respectively, since their independence, having both led the liberation struggles against the Portuguese colonial regime.
Angola's general elections are scheduled for 2027, while Mozambique will hold general elections on October 9, which include presidential elections, as well as legislative and provincial ones.
