Speaking at a rally in Bié, the province where he was born and where Jonas Savimbi, founder of the party, is buried, Adalberto da Costa Júnior promised his supporters a government that treats everyone equally, stressing that Angolans "have no reason to live in a country that is poor", pointing out the very favorable conditions for agriculture in the province, where "almost all the rivers are born, but 75 percent of the houses do not have drinking water".
He also promised that, if elected, he would suspend his ties to the party and that Angolans should not be worried about the alternation, "because they will see what a full-fledged President is, dedicated to serving his people, and not his party" for the first time.
The leader of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) said that it is time to take stock, regretting the disrespect for laws, democracy and the electoral campaign, stressing that "Angola has wasted a lot of money".
One of the reasons for poverty, he pointed out, "is the party-state [MPLA, which has governed Angola since independence in 1975] that wants to continue to govern", a party "that is delaying the country's development and is the reason for the poverty and backwardness" of Angola.
The president of UNITA stated that poverty rates had increased and criticized the health policy, giving the example of Bié itself, where "a large and important hospital" was inaugurated, but which has no doctors.
"They are just building in a hurry in time for elections to deceive the people", said the UNITA candidate for the presidency of Angola, whose main opponent is the president of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola and President of the Republic, João Lourenço, who re-candidate for a new term.
He also pointed out the fact that "the basic food basket is cheaper because of the elections" and that there are rallies where participants will be paid, to say that the Angolan electorate is more mature and is not fooled.
Costa Júnior also criticized the fact that justice in Angola depends on politics, "which spoils everything", and leaves the country at risk, alluding to the annulment of the UNITA congress in which he was elected president.
In contrast to the MPLA, he stressed that UNITA knows how to "work with different people" and "with plurality", stressing that "dialogue with others is a lesson in maturity" and that this objective is reflected in the lists of the "Galo Negro ", which integrate elements of other political forces and civil society.
Adalberto da Costa Júnior presented the general lines of his government program in the area of education and employment promotion, reiterated his promise to hold municipal elections within a year and to change the Constitution, amend the land law and move forward with the reform of the judiciary, guaranteeing that there will be continuity of the State, since the State "must not be owned by a political party".
Regarding the small number of Angolans registered abroad (about 22,000, who will participate for the first time in the elections), he explained that the regime's party "decided to exclude" citizens living in democracies and "they knew it was a vote for alternation".
He also alluded to the former President, José Eduardo dos Santos, and to the quarrels between some of his children and the regime of João Lourenço, which he criticized for "treating badly in life" and crying "only when the other one left".
Angola will choose a new President and Vice-President, as well as the deputies to the National Assembly on 24 August, in what will be the fifth electoral ballot in the country, the previous ones having always been won by the MPLA.
