Adalberto da Costa Júnior, who marked the start of the electoral campaign in Benguela this Saturday, arrived at the rally site around 3:00 pm after walking about 5 kilometers, flanked by numbers 2 and 3 of the UNITA lists, Abel Chivukuvuku and Justino Pinto de Andrade, respectively, a delegation that was accompanied by thousands of people.
Singing and chanting "thieves out" and "MPLA fell", UNITA militants and supporters followed the three politicians on a festive walk, in shades of green and red - the colors of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) -, that filled the streets of Benguela with a huge human mass and ended up in the countryside adjacent to the airport.
In an intervention lasting more than an hour, Adalberto da Costa Júnior recalled the founder of UNITA, Jonas Savimbi, and his dream of realizing the Angolan homeland, but highlighted that this was also a project of Holden Roberto, founder of the FNLA (Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola), and the first president of Angola, Agostinho Neto, of the MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola), the party that has governed the country since independence.
"Three fathers of the nation" who, he underlined, "thought of an Angola for their children, an Angola of dignity, riches and opportunities", promising to rescue the ideals that "were forgotten and lost", assuming the "mission of realizing the motherland of all Angolans".
In the speech, he repeated the criticism of the public media due to the partiality in the electoral coverage, stressing that "there is a party that had direct transmission of its rallies", unlike the other parties that also scheduled an act for today [Saturday].
"I hoped that there would be no more differentiation with the beginning of the campaign, but after all I was wrong, after all there are parties that are more than others?", questioned the leader of "Galo Negro".
Emphasizing the calls for alternation, the president of UNITA said that "it is no longer a time for promises, it is a time for balance sheets", taking into account that the country has been independent for 47 years, and regretted the degradation of the democratic and lawful state and the diminution of freedoms, in the last five years, coinciding with the mandate of João Lourenço, who is re-candidate for the position.
The UNITA leader also pointed out the "dead relatives and friends" who are on the list to vote, warning that the party is attentive and estimating that there are more than 2.5 million deceased people who are listed as voters.
"Since 1996, the depuration of the dead from the lists has not been carried out. Who are you trying to fool? Will you accept to go to the elections with these lists?", asked Adalberto da Costa Júnior, asking the thousands of militants and sympathizers who attended the rally this Saturday to help in this verification and take care of the security of the vote, "organized".
Stressing the need for "a different country with a leadership committed to serving the country", Adalberto da Costa Júnior mocked the construction of the Basilica of Muxima, announced last week by the President, who accused of trying to "buy" the church.
He also alerted to the fact that the government was under management, since, with the beginning of the electoral campaign for the elections scheduled for 24 August, the President "cannot sign anything", nor make "the simplified contracts that finance his broken".
He also pointed out the need to ensure that the campaign takes place in a peaceful environment of tolerance and harmony, insisting that provocations be ignored.
"Where they provoke you, go away, where they see an ambush, go away, it's not an attitude of cowardice, it's an attitude of intelligence", stressed the leader during the intervention, where he insisted on the appeals of no to violence.
Adalberto da Costa Júnior repeated the ideas that he will "govern for all, those who voted and those who did not vote", saluting in the final stretch of the speech "all parties and leaders" that are now entering the electoral campaign, leaving the invitation to hold debates among all candidates, which he considered a duty.
"The cowards flee, we will punish the cowards, they are not up to their wonderful people. We are not afraid, we are sure of the people's support," said Adalberto da Costa Júnior, who was enthusiastically applauded.
The seven parties and the coalition that are candidates for the next general elections held rallies and political acts this Saturday to mark the start of the electoral campaign, in different parts of the country.
In addition to UNITA, in Benguela, the MPLA held its rally in Luanda, the CASA-CE coalition, the country's third political force, in Cuanza Norte, the PRS in Lunda Norte, the P-NJANGO in Huambo, the Humanist Party of Angola in Namibe and the FNLA in Luanda.
This will be the fifth vote in Angola, after 1992, 2008, 2012 and 2017, in which the MPLA won.
