João Lourenço, leader of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) began his speech to launch the electoral campaign this Saturday in Camama, Luanda province, praising the achievements of the former president of the party, who died on 8 July, in Barcelona, Spain.
According to João Lourenço, the launch of the campaign takes place at a time when MPLA militants and Angolans in general "still feel the pain of the physical disappearance of comrade President José Eduardo dos Santos".
"Our president emeritus, a great son of Angola, who dedicated all his youth and many years of governance in very difficult times that our country went through, but knew how to lead the country wisely and, above all, to end the war that threatened to destroy our country", he said.
The MPLA leader, who is running for a second term, also stressed that to José Eduardo dos Santos the Angolans owe "the peace and reconciliation" that the country has lived for 20 years "and which is a precious asset" for the development of the country.
"I take this opportunity to emphasize the civility and respect shown by Angolans in general and by all those foreigners who wanted to join our pain, during the approximately seven days that took place in the tributes to President José Eduardo dos Santos", he stressed.
"But life goes on, his greatest joy will be to see his MPLA win these fifth general elections in Angola. This is the best way we have to honor the memory of President José Eduardo dos Santos", he added.
José Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled Angola from 1979 to 2017, died on July 8, aged 79, in Barcelona, Spain, where he has spent most of his time for the past five years.
Two factions of the dos Santos family dispute, in the Family Court of the Civil Court of Catalonia, who will have custody of the body of José Eduardo dos Santos.
On the one hand, there are Tchizé dos Santos and his older brothers, who oppose the delivery of the remains to the former first lady and are against holding a state funeral before the elections to avoid political use.
On the other side is the widow Ana Paula dos Santos and her three children in common with José Eduardo dos Santos, who also claim the body and want it to be buried in Angola in the near future.
This claim is supported by the Government, which announced its intention to hold a state funeral, but had to content itself with seven days of national mourning and a disembodied wake, while the dispute continues in the courts, four days before the start of the campaign to general elections, becoming a political fact that is marking the electoral race.
In an interview last week with the Angolan media, the Minister of State and head of the Military House of the President of the Republic, who leads the delegation representing the State, General Francisco Furtado, expressed confidence in a favorable outcome, stressing that the Angolan citizens and the international community want to see "the problem solved".
"The entire Angolan nation wants the presence of its former leader in the country to pay him the deserved tribute", said Francisco Furtado, stressing that if the Spanish authorities take into account the reasons that led the former President to Barcelona "there will be no other outcome other than the return of the body to Luanda".
The electoral campaign for the fifth Angolan general elections, to be held on 24 August, officially started this Saturday.
