After the defeat in Luanda province by the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) in Wednesday's general elections, Rui Falcão said that the MPLA's plan is to move forward with the creation of municipalities in Luanda during the next term, a promise of 2017 that has not yet been fulfilled.
"As I said, it's an intention." But "we have to create the legal scope so that we can complete this process" and, after the legislation is passed, "we can proceed to the municipal elections without problems", said Rui Falcão, at the end of a meeting of the MPLA's board, which lost 26 deputies, but retained an absolute majority.
The UNITA victory in the capital contributed to these results, which could lead to an autarkic defeat in the future. In response to the coexistence with a local power of another party color, Rui Falcão minimized: "But what is the problem? I don't understand where the problem is, democracy is exactly that, we have gotten used to it and we are of pedagogy, of self-pedagogy".
On the loss of one million voters since 2017, Rui Falcão admitted his guilt: "Our own party was the one who harmed us. We are aware that abstention harmed us".
Despite this and the loss of deputies, the MPLA continues to have 34 more deputies than UNITA and a comfortable absolute majority of 124 seats in 220 seats.
On the website of the National Electoral Commission (CNE), the 220 seats of parliament have all been assigned, despite the fact that the results are provisional and 2.97 percent of the votes have yet to be determined.
"I have no idea of the universe of un-scrutinized minutes, I don't know if they are significant minutes or not", commented Rui Falcão.
Now, in view of the reduction of mandates and votes, the MPLA will seek to "know the causes, evaluate and redirect our action in the sense of mobilizing" the electorate, stressed Rui Falcão.
"The democratic process is just that, some win one day, others win the next. It is necessary to know how to live in democracy", he said, criticizing the existence of unofficial parallel counts.
As for statements by the leader of the MPLA and re-candidate for President of the Republic, Rui Falcão referred a position of João Lourenço only to after the official results of the CNE.
"As soon as the CNE publishes the final results, the president of the MPLA, as the winner of the elections, will speak," he said, noting that Friday's meeting was not tense.
The "President is part of the MPLA, he didn't ask for an account, the President is part of the MPLA and assumes where he won and where he lost with the same tranquility", he explained.
"The MPLA is a huge party, a party that has millions of militants" and "we are not monochromatic, we have diverse, disparate opinions, we all live in the same space, we discuss", but "the most important thing is consensus", he stressed.
As for the future of governance, there is "a democratic forum, where all the parties that were voted on have representation", where "the political debate takes place and that is where the convergences take place, so it will be at that level, at the parliamentary level, that we will continue to work".
The weekend will be marked by the official funeral rites of former president José Eduardo dos Santos, after a judicial process that pitted the widow and the government against part of the family.
"President José Eduardo was President of the Republic for many years, for that very reason, he has his own statute and, within the framework of that statute, he will deserve the due honors", he said.
Now, Rui Falcão hopes that UNITA will admit defeat, criticizing the call for a demonstration that is being made on social networks to protest against the results.
"UNITA is the one that has to explain the objectives of its demonstration", he challenged.
At the end of the MPLA board meeting, João Lourenço left flanked by security guards and did not speak to the journalists present. Faced with the questions, the President of the Republic simply said: "I'll talk later".
