"The Constitutional Court limited itself to following, 'ipsis verbis', the rules", said the academic Eugénio Costa Almeida, researcher at the Center for International Studies of Iscte – University Institute of Lisbon to Lusa.
"For me, the Constitutional Court was too legalistic and little or not humanistic, because it was based on the law, but it forgot other factors", said the academic.
For Eugénio Costa Almeida, the problem identified for the annulment of the congress was "something that was not questioned".
"What is particularly at issue here is the possible dual nationality of Adalberto Costa Júnior. At the beginning of the congress, in my opinion, it was no longer possible", defended the researcher, noting that the delivery of the request to abdicate Portuguese nationality was made before the start of the congress.
Angolan jurist Rui Verde also defended that the decision, "contrary to what has been said, from a strictly legal point of view, is a normal decision".
"The constitutional courts of the various countries annulling the congresses of the parties is something normal", he said, recalling that the Portuguese Constitutional Court annulled, at the end of September, the congress of the Chega party held last year.
The ruling by the TC, published Thursday on its official website, confirmed a group of militants from the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), which requested the nullity of the XIII congress, invoking various irregularities.
Among the alleged irregularities is the dual nationality of Adalberto Costa Júnior on the date of submission of his candidacy for the election for president of the party.
Isaias Samakuva, who led the "Black Rooster" party for 16 years until November 2019, resumed on Friday the presidency of the party.
Eugénio Costa Almeida called Samakuva's return to the leadership of UNITA "logical" given the annulment of the congress that elected Adalberto Costa Júnior.
For this presidency of Samakuva, the investigator anticipated that it should only "convene a new congress for the election of a new president".
Rui Verde also addressed this upcoming congress, which "has to be carefully organized to respect the Constitution and the statutes and not give rise to new interpretations".
"I think Samakuva now has a very important role to play in ensuring all the formalities," he said.
For the new congress, Eugénio Consta Almeida foresees a victory for Adalberto Costa Júnior, who should have few opponents.
On the other hand, Rui Verde said that, "if he were a UNITA jurist, he advised that the congress be opened a lot".
"If I were a UNITA jurist, I would advise the congress to be open wide and to have several candidates, not to say that it is a simulated congress", defended the jurist, pointing out that this is "important to reinforce UNITA's position and , on the other hand, also, of the Constitutional Court".
Eugénio Costa Almeida also addressed the United Patriotic Front (FPU) platform, which brings together UNITA, the Democratic Bloc and the PRA-JA Servir Angola political project, which should now be cancelled.
"Everything that came out of the 13th Congress was considered null – in particular the appointment of Adalberto Costa Júnior as UNITA president – and all acts carried out by the elected members in that congress are considered null. The Patriotic United Front does not exist", he said. the academic.
Even so, Eugénio Costa Almeida referred that "in practice, it must be worked on and, after the holding of the next [UNITA] congress (...) it must be formalized as soon as possible".
Rui Verde believes that the FPU should not be affected "since Adalberto Costa Júnior regains leadership in the congress".
"I don't see the FPU in question" in this scenario, predicted Rui Verde, pointing out that "everything depends on the strategic motions that are approved in congress".
The ruling that dictated the annulment of the XIII UNITA congress was signed by seven councilor judges and was not unanimous, with judge Josefa Neto having voted defeated.
In her explanation of vote, the magistrate emphasizes that the selection of Adalberto Costa Júnior's candidacy, by the UNITA standing committee, "in addition to not materializing any violation of the principle of legality, is fully accepted in the light of the principle of autonomy, a corollary of freedom of organization and functioning of political formations".
The judge also considered that the decision on this matter constitutes "not only a violation of the aforementioned principle of autonomy, but also of the principle of minimal intervention by the Constitutional Court, which is equally necessary to safeguard the autonomy of political parties."
