João Lourenço, accompanied by the first lady, Ana Dias Lourenço, made a last appeal to the female electorate this Monday, in a meeting with women led by the Angolan Women's Organization (OMA), in which he heard the leader of the women's wing of the Popular Movement. for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), Joana Tomás, praising "the only candidate who had the courage to nominate a woman as vice president, number 2 on the MPLA list, Esperança da Costa".
The President of Angola, who is running for a second term, heard messages from women from various professional sectors and social strata, from civil servants to zungueiras, former combatants, religious, young people, journalists and women with disabilities, all guaranteeing confidence in the their candidate and to say that the "8", the MPLA number on the ballot paper, will be their choice in Wednesday's general elections.
Women "are the flowers of this garden that is called Angola", returned, in turn, João Lourenço, urging that women be treated like "a flower, always with affection, with delicacy, so that it does not wither".
"We don't want to see those flowers wither, we want to see them more and more beautiful and we have to treat them well, with equality", said the leader of the MPLA, the party that has governed the country since independence in 1975, and who trusts in the re-election.
João Lourenço stressed that it is necessary to fight "in order to offer women the same rights and opportunities as any Angolan citizen", rights already enshrined in the law and that must be enforced to "give dignity" to women.
Concerns for which the MPLA, highlighted, "has fought and will continue to fight", to end illiteracy, school dropout and early pregnancy, as well as the "criminal phenomenon of domestic violence".
And he warned: "there will only be social peace if we can all work together, men and women on an equal footing".
The President promised to "continue to work for gender equality, for the empowerment of women and the family" and stressed the importance of the vote that takes place within 48 hours, calling for mobilization.
"We need to work, we still have a few hours and those hours should not be wasted, the moment is not yet for party", he told the militants, who this Monday gathered at the Kilamba Multipurpose Pavilion, in Luanda.
"The law allows us to work all day today to hunt for votes, door to door, we still have time to teach readers how to vote correctly for the MPLA and identify their polling station without hesitation", asked the MPLA candidate, thanking the Angolan woman in farewell and asking her: "don't forget, on the 24th, to vote for your son, João Lourenço".
More than 14 million Angolans, including those residing abroad, are eligible to vote on 24 August, in what will be the fifth election in Angola's history.
