Abel Chivukuvuku was elected, on Monday, leader of PRA-JA Servir Angola, at the constitutive congress, which he considered “a moment of affirmation” of this new “unavoidable political force for the future of Angola”.
This new party, legalized in October 2024, according to its leader, aims to be the Government or part of it in 2027, stressing that the congress galvanized Angolans and the path now is “forward”.
“We want to be part of the construction of Angola and the destiny of the country and Angolans,” Abel Chivukuvuku told Lusa.
According to the leader, at the congress he received the mandate to prepare the party “to compete, if necessary, alone in the 2027 elections”, as well as to “make the necessary arrangements with other political forces”.
“If it is appropriate, we will move forward with other political forces, the context has to be one of coalition and never of aggregation,” he said.
In 2022, PRA-JA Servir Angola, at the time still without approval from the Constitutional Court, became part of the United Patriotic Front (FPU), a political platform coordinated by the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), which also includes the Democratic Bloc and individuals from civil society.
As a result of this political agreement, in 2022, several members of PRA-JA Servir Angola and civil society joined the list of UNITA deputies, thus entering the National Assembly.
In his closing speech at the congress on Wednesday, Abel Chivukuvuku said that, at the Political Commission meeting, one of the main concerns raised had to do with the FPU, appealing to opposition political parties not to be “afraid” or “envious” of PRA-JA Servir Angola.
“We have to prepare ourselves to move forward alone, but be prepared for the eventuality of conversations, but these conversations have to have rules, because we have already suffered a lot with this FPU issue,” he said in his closing speech at the congress.
Regarding the decision of PRA-JA Servir Angola to leave the FPU, Abel Chivukuvuku stressed that preparing to advance alone to the next elections does not imply leaving this political platform.
“That’s it, no one talked about the FPU, nor did anyone mention the FPU,” he highlighted.
Regarding the format to be adopted for the next elections, Abel Chivukuvuku said that the party has "a vision, a program and an idea to be Government”.
“In Angola, there were two moments when there were governments with multiple participation. In 1997, we had the transitional government, the MPLA, UNITA and the FNLA; in 1998, we had the Government of Unity and National Reconciliation, [composed of] the MPLA, UNITA and other forces, and was there a crisis? There was no crisis,” he said.
“If we are saying that we are open to consultation, it presupposes the possibility of being part of the Government with other forces, I do not know which ones. We have two options: alone or in consultation”, he stressed.
