"A few days ago, the President was still demonstrating that he's in control of the situation, that he's in charge, that he can and does everything, that he decides who his successor will be, and that he does everything. And now we're seeing that neither the President of the Republic nor members of his entourage are publicly explaining what's happening in the country," Rafael Marques told the Lusa news agency.
"The only person who seems to have a head to think in this country is the President, who doesn't know how to govern and is extremely incompetent. He has surrounded himself with people just as incompetent, and nothing works in this country. This is why we have a real public security crisis right now in Luanda, where, with basic acts of vandalism, it has been possible to isolate the center of Luanda from the city and transform the peri-urban areas, the outskirts of Luanda, into vandalism zones," he stated.
The "public security crisis," marked by violent protests, coincided with the taxi operators' strike and demonstrations against the rising cost of living called for Monday, Tuesday, and this Wednesday in the capital.
At least five people, including a police officer, died and 1214 were arrested following the protests that began Monday in Luanda, according to Mateus Rodrigues, spokesperson for the Angolan Police General Command, who announced Tuesday night.
Rafael Marques also criticized the lack of dialogue, considering Angola "a country where there is no dialogue between the government and civil society, and where people increasingly harbor an antagonism, an undisguised antagonism against the President's belligerence, against his heart of stone. This can only be the result."
The activist fears that the situation could worsen "because now people realize the weaknesses of the regime itself."
"They issue institutional announcements, and no one takes to the streets to calm the population. And right now, Luanda is essentially at a standstill, paralyzed. The country's capital is paralyzed. Shops are closed, public services, everything is closed. What's more, this is an act that is essentially part of a taxi drivers' strike, with every right they have, because this measure by the President was completely ill-considered," he emphasizes, referring to the end of fuel subsidies without the decision being accompanied by measures to mitigate their effects.
Rafael Marques recalls that, in the past, he warned about this situation.
"These [fuel price] increases should be accompanied by the provision of a functional public transportation network. The President, in recent years, has spent nearly 800 million dollars purchasing buses for public transportation, and most of these buses were handed over to MPLA members, to companies owned by people associated with power, who then put them into private services, or stored the buses. Hundreds of buses were kept in parking lots for MPLA campaigns," he accuses.
The result, he reinforces, is that João Lourenço "doesn't reduce public spending, he increases it (...) and thinks the people should continue to suffer in silence because he has a heart of stone."
"And people are tired of this. I mean, he's causing a rebellion against his power. Because of his insensitive acts. He doesn't know how to govern," he reiterates.
Rafael Marques also accuses João Lourenço of managing public funds "as if they were his personal bank account."
"Governance only serves his personal whims. And that's not how you govern a country. Just look at how he does it: a large portion of the country's money [goes] to simplified contracting and direct awarding, where he doesn't give a damn about anything, doesn't explain anything to anyone. In other words, he uses and disposes of state resources as if they were from his personal bank account. Basically, he really thinks that state resources are resources in his pocket," he assesses.
For Angola to be "a functional country and end this model of misgovernance," it is important to "start thinking about and discussing the post-Lourenço transition," he argued.
Regarding the role of the police in this "public security crisis," Rafael Marques advises João Lourenço not to consider solving the problem through violence.
"Because it could have a boomerang effect," he warns.
When asked about the inorganic nature of the protests and the MPLA's difficulty in engaging in dialogue, Rafael Marques responds that the ruling party "doesn't have to talk to inorganic movements."
"The MPLA has to talk to society. And how does the MPLA talk to society? Through its institutions. Through accountability. Through the presentation of effective public policies," he explains.
