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Politics

João Lourenço denies that municipal elections have been postponed because they were never called

The President, João Lourenço, said this Thursday that the local elections, scheduled for 2020, "were not postponed because they were never called" and stressed that it would be "unrealistic and irresponsible" to hold the vote this year.

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This is the fourth time that João Lourenço, President of the Republic since September 2017, addresses the nation, a constitutional imperative that determines that this message be addressed at the opening of the parliamentary year.

João Lourenço, who arrived at the parliament at 11 am, speaks this year before a plenary with far fewer deputies than usual, due to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. The speech was preceded by a minute's silence in memory of deputies Mendes Bartolomeu and Sérgio Luther Rescova, also governor of Uíje and leader of MPLA, who died on Friday, allegedly due to covid-19.

The head of state addressed the holding of local elections this year, as recommended by the Council of the Republic in 2018 and "complied" by the Executive, but stressed that there were no conditions because the necessary legislative package was not completed.

"It doesn't seem fair and correct to say that the elections have been postponed. Elections that have never been called are not postponed and they are not called without a legal basis under penalty of not being considered valid," he said, alluding to criticism from the opposition, which accuses the government of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) of breaking the promise about the municipalities.

João Lourenço assured that "everyone" is interested in the holding of these elections that will take place for the first time in Angola and that will "bring about the emergence of a new type of power that is sure to greatly alleviate the weight of the responsibility that today falls on the state in solving the daily problems that afflict the citizen".

But he stressed, on the other hand, that "everyone", from the executive to the parliament, political parties, the National Electoral Commission and civil society, is responsible for creating the necessary conditions "to guarantee the success of this process," which he says is closer to being achieved than in 2018.

"I believe that all the institutions cited here are worthy to the point of not defending the holding of elections before the end of this year, because it would be unrealistic and of great irresponsibility," he pointed out.

In his speech, João Lourenço also mentioned that, despite the covid-19 pandemic, the government is still focusing on the main priority of its agenda - working to diversify the economy, increase local production and exports and increase labor supply - and lamented the "near paralysis of the economy that forced the forced confinement of workers and citizens and postponed the economic recovery planned for this year.

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