“The march has been postponed. The Provincial Government of Luanda presented some excuses that do not reap, but as we already know how it is, we decided to postpone, but if we continue to witness the constant violations of the law, we will set a new date”, told Lusa Alcino Kuvalela, communication director of the campaign of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola UNITA).
According to the official, the parade, which included a large part of the opposition parties (UNITA, CASA-CE, PRS, Bloco Democrático) and the political project PRA-JÁ Servir Angola, aimed to alert the institutions that are involved in the electoral process, asking compliance with legality and equal treatment of all political forces.
“Everyone must obey the law, the police, the National Electoral Commission, the media, the secret services. Angola is a democratic state governed by law, actions must be based on law and legality”, he stressed.
With regard to public media, he complained about the unequal distribution between the coverage given to the government and the MPLA, which he said occupied "almost 80 percent" in Televisão Publica de Angola, Rádio Nacional de Angola and Jornal de Angola. , which led the opposition to join the protest.
“It is a march of the entire opposition, everyone is excluded in this process, all those who oppose the MPLA, and this is what made us unite to deliver messages to those who are entitled”, he stressed.
The UNITA official highlighted that the GPL was informed in advance about the march so that “the necessary conditions” could be created, classifying the arguments presented to reject the initiative as “excuses” and “subterfuges”.
In a statement, the Luanda authorities recommended not holding the parade, considering that there is a “risk of compromising security and public order”, not only because two marches are called for the same day, with the same time and itinerary, but also because of the contain “political projects not approved by the Constitutional Court” that will not run in the elections, “therefore having no legitimacy to demand equal treatment in the electoral process”.
Alcino Kuvalela also said that another justification, which was not mentioned in the communiqué sent to journalists, was the fact that the letter sent to the GPL was not signed by the party's provincial secretary, but by one of his assistants, which the leader UNITA questions since also the GPL response was not signed by the provincial director.
He also stated that a march in support of the MPLA is announced for Saturday, asking: “Can this one come out?”
According to Alcino Kuvalela, at the time the opposition protest was communicated to the GPL, no information was known about the MPLA's march, within the scope of the political campaign, starting in the Port of Luanda and ending in the Nova Marginal.
