The initiative of 'impeachment' (dismissal) of the head of state, which was presented this Wednesday at a press conference by the parliamentary group of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), alleges that the governance of João Lourenço, who serving his second term since September 2022, "is against democracy, against social peace and against national independence".
"His rejection by the nation translates into the highest disapproval rate ever seen in peacetime," says the party.
According to the parliamentary group of 'maninhos', the general feeling of citizens is that the President of the Republic has betrayed the oath he took, has absolutely lost the trust of voters and, therefore, "should be removed from office".
UNITA recalls that João Lourenço, during his inauguration on 15 September 2022, swore to carry out with dedication the functions entrusted to him, to comply with and enforce the Constitution of the Republic of Angola and the laws and to defend independence, sovereignty and the unity of the nation.
Nine months later, in UNITA's opinion, the President "subverted the democratic process" and consolidated in the country "an authoritarian regime, which threatens peace and the fundamental rights of Angolans".
It maintains, in its initiative, that in the current government of João Lourenço "there is no pluralism or equality of opportunities and treatment of the different currents of political opinion in the public space".
"There is only one effective power in a Republic that works more and more like an autocracy. Such subversion constitutes a crime of violation of the Constitution that seriously undermines the democratic State of Law", he points out.
UNITA deputies emphasize that, as holder of executive power, having defined the country's political orientation, "through which the State was captured by an oligarchy that is directed, maintained and controlled by the President of the Republic", João Lourenço "attacked and continues to attack the dignity of the human person, the achievement of national independence and the construction of social peace and the unity of the nation".
They accuse the Head of State of avoiding fulfilling the fundamental tasks of the State and promoting, instead, erroneous governance policies and blocking the inspection of his acts of governance by the competent and independent bodies of the State.
For UNITA, João Lourenço became the "only political leader" for the general crisis of governance that Angola is experiencing and which manifests itself, among other aspects, in the "assault" on the National Treasury to "directly and indirectly finance the private investments of the oligarchy that protects".
"By promoting, maintaining, consolidating and crystallizing the partisanship and direct or indirect, open or hidden control of State institutions by a political party, the President of the Republic, with flagrant deviation or abuse of his functions or with serious violation of the inherent duties, destroys, alters or subverts the constitutionally established rule of law", says UNITA.
The party led by Adalberto Costa Júnior also says there is "strong evidence of coercion" against constitutional bodies, namely the National Assembly (parliament), the Attorney General's Office (PGR), the National Bank of Angola (BNA) and the courts , "on the part of the President of the Republic, which threaten the regular functioning of institutions".
In relation to the judiciary, he adds, "there is clear evidence of interference by the President of the Republic, control, instrumentalization and manipulation of the judges of the superior courts, in addition to the President of the Republic not defending the Constitution by not having exactly the same procedure in relation to to the two presiding judges who allegedly acted outside the law".
According to UNITA, "there has also been an increase" of "evidence of acts of active and passive corruption" among holders of political offices dependent on the President of the Republic "who, even after receiving denouncements, complaints and various complaints, manifest inaction, tolerance, connivance or disdain".
In this proposal for the dismissal of João Lourenço, UNITA also points out that, with the aforementioned practices, João Lourenço "built and consolidated a political regime based on the subversion of the law and the State, on corruption, contrary to the oath of his inauguration".
The UNITA parliamentary group will present to the plenary of the National Assembly - with a majority of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA, led by João Lourenço) - this initiative for the process of indictment and removal of the President, João Lourenço.
