The president of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), the main opposition party, was the guest on Monday at the 3rd edition of the Economy 100 Makas talks, led by journalist Carlos Rosado de Carvalho, who asked Costa Júnior about the revision of the Constitution and whether he had been approached about it.
"I will say that this has already happened, unfortunately. The approaches have been made, unfortunately, by various emissaries, and fortunately for those who are here, there has never been and never will be a possibility", he reinforced.
The Angolan Constitution provides for only two presidential terms, each lasting five years, with the current president João Lourenço serving his second term.
Costa Júnior said he had been contacted, but not directly in the meetings with the President, but rather through mandated emissaries, whose contacts were later denied.
"I have already drawn attention to the fact that this should not be the approach to building a future, but, as everyone knows, this is a common practice in our country," said the UNITA leader, pointing out this type of approach, "the purchase of personality, the envelopes".
He insisted that he is currently unavailable for a review of the Constitution that "will not serve Angola", pointing to past experience in which changes to the Constitution led to the annulment of mandates.
"We are all vaccinated against this reality", he stressed, stating, however, that "it is indisputable" that Angola needs to review its Constitution.
"But, in our view, we will associate the proposal for constitutional review with the alternation project. This means that we will not anticipate the review of the Constitution in the next elections", he stressed, reiterating that reviewing the Constitution now would lead to the annulment of mandates already served.
"Why are these revisions being sought so much? Unfortunately, it is not just Angola. We have some practices and we closely follow something that is common on our continent. When the limits are reached, everything is done to avoid losing power", stressed the president of UNITA, adding that "government is done without respect and only fear comes when the end is reached".
The politician said that the proposals under debate in the National Assembly to change a series of laws are "undemocratic" and that since it has not yet managed to revise the Constitution, the regime will try other ways to maintain power, for example through the permanent legalization of new parties.
"Today we have at least 12 new parties and others will probably follow. All of this is focused on limiting and creating difficulties with a high political scope", he stressed.
Before the conversation, the UNITA leader gave a long, one-and-a-half-hour presentation of his vision for Angola, pointing out figures and indicators showing the fragility of the economy, worsening social conditions, high levels of poverty, the "chronic and acute" problem of unemployment, and censorship in the media.
He also presented UNITA's proposals in the areas of the economy and education, among others, and outlined the objectives for state reform and good governance, with a focus on depoliticization, debureaucratization, and transparency.
In UNITA's view, he emphasized, it is not about changing parties but rather "changing the system," saying that it wants to break the party-state cycle, strong institutions with justice and a free press, a fair minimum wage, youth employment, and the fight against hunger.
