The president of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) announced on Wednesday that opposition deputies will take office "in order to defend the principles", although he criticized the "lack of legitimacy" of the new government.
The next legislature has 220 deputies, of which 124 were elected on 24 August by the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), which won the elections, 90 by UNITA, two by the National Renewal Party (PRS), two by the Frente National Liberation of Angola (FNLA) and two by the debuting Humanist Party of Angola (PHA).
The head of state, João Lourenço, who took office on Thursday, promised to "be the President of all Angolans" and promote economic development and the well-being of the population.
"In assuming, by mandate of the sovereign people, the functions of President of the Republic of Angola, I declare on my honor to respect the Constitution and the law, to be the President of all Angolans and to govern for the economic and social development of the country and the well-being of all Angolans", declared the head of state before a crowd in Luanda.
Lourenço was re-elected with 51.17 percent of the votes, in an election that was contested by the opposition, but validated by the Constitutional Court. In his inauguration speech, he congratulated the Angolan people, who he considered "the real and true big winner" of the August 24 elections.
The first parliamentary session of the next legislature has as its high point the investiture of the elected deputies, as well as the election of the president of the National Assembly, a position that should be assumed, for the first time, by a woman, the outgoing Minister of State for the Social Area. , Carolina Cerqueira, number three on the MPLA lists.
The constitutive meeting will begin with an intervention by the outgoing president, Fernando Dias dos Santos "Nandó" and the session's program also includes the consideration of the proposals of the mandate verification commission, the electoral commission, the draft resolution approving the election of the president, vice-president and secretaries of the board of the National Assembly, among other points.
