Laurinda Cardoso, who spoke at the investiture ceremony that took place this morning at Praça da República, in Luanda, after João Lourenço and Esperança da Costa had taken the oath, asked the newly sworn in to be the President of all Angolans, of those who voted and of those who did not vote, because "it is high time to purge the ghosts".
She also stressed that elections are not blank checks from the people to the winners, taking the opportunity to ask the head of state to preserve the country's social contract.
The magistrate highlighted that democracy must express itself, above all "in the consistent and responsible action" of those who win the elections and who must consider themselves true public servants, appealing to João Lourenço not to allow the use of force to prevail over justice and social justice.
On the other hand, he recalled that Angola is an independent, democratic and legal state that aims to build a free society based on peace, progress and social justice, values that must be deepened and that lead to the "periodic collective exercise that is the elections".
"The Angolan people expressed their will in the general elections and there is no one who can fail to listen to the people in a democratic nation, when they decide to sound their sovereign voice. The people are the central element, so without being taken into account, little sense will make a great collective future. It was the people that brought you here and it is through their will expressed at the polls that they will carry this undertaking forward", she exhorted.
Electoral processes are "competitive and that's how we want them", but "all competition in society presupposes rules and the respective limits that must be accepted and respected by all".
"Electoral competition is over and it is time to extract the consequences of the result", said the magistrate, expecting the President that, in this second term, he demonstrates nothing less than greater commitment to national unity.
"We are all children of the same country, one and indivisible", stressed Laurinda Cardoso.
João Lourenço was sworn in as President of the Republic this Thursday, re-elected for a second term to serve another five years in the highest office in the country.
The presiding judge of the Constitutional Court who presided over the investiture ceremony stressed that the election was marked by the civic attitude of all those who participated in the act, highlighting: "we have proved our high level of oolitic maturity as a people".
"I, João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, upon assuming the position of President of the Republic, swear on my honor to carry out with dedication the functions in which I am invested, to fulfill and enforce the Constitution of the Republic and the laws of the country, to defend independence, sovereignty, unity of the Nation and the territorial integrity of the country, defend peace and democracy and promote stability, well-being and social progress for all Angolans", swore the new president at the inauguration.
Words that were repeated by the vice president, Esperança de Costa, who was sworn in shortly afterwards by Laurinda Cardoso.
