"The legalization of the political party PRA-JA Servir Angola is, effectively, an added value for our democracy, as democracy cannot be achieved without political parties (...). The most complete form of political participation in terms of what is designed in our Constitution are the political parties, which hold the monopoly of political action in Angola", said David Sambongo.
Speaking to Lusa, the political specialist considered that the legalization of Abel Chivukuvuku's party constitutes "another alternative" for Angolan citizens, because, he explained, "more forces will be there to fight, compete and present their project for society".
For the political analyst, the legalization of PRA-JA Servir Angola "will change a lot" in the Angolan political scene, mainly because it is headed by the "experienced, charismatic and political animal" Abel Chivukuvuku, who "manages to galvanize citizens".
For Sambongo, in terms of the Angolan party political spectrum, the country could have an "imperfect two-party system", with "the two great forces that are the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola [MPLA] and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola [UNITA] and probably PRA-JA as the third force".
PRA-JA "can surpass the other political-party forces with the exception of MPLA and UNITA and become the 3rd political party at the level of our political chessboard, it must be a force that will disrupt the political system between the two largest ", he argued.
PRA-JA Servir Angola announced on Wednesday that it received the annotation order from the Constitutional Court, allowing Abel Chivukuvuku's political project to transform into a political party.
The decision puts an end to a process that had been dragging on since 2019, the year the project was presented, which ended up being rejected in 2020 by the courts, forcing us to wait four years for another attempt at legalization.
Sambongo admitted, on the other hand, that this legitimization of PRA-JA as a political force could "shake" the United Patriotic Front (FPU) – an electoral political platform composed of UNITA, Democratic Bloc (BD) and PRA-JA and which won 90 deputies in the 2022 elections for the UNITA ticket –, especially with regard to BD.
"The FPU may be a little shaken and the most harmed by this action could be, if it doesn't work hard, the Democratic Bloc, which could be the [political force] most sacrificed in this process", since "UNITA has loyal militants and also PRA-JA may have many militants", stressed the political scientist, questioning what PRA-JA Servir Angola's political ideology is.
In relation to the speech by the MPLA president and head of state, João Lourenço, who said, Wednesday, at the opening of the Central Committee meeting, using a football metaphor, that his party is far from internal elections, this statement, to David Sambongo, translates to "let me finish my term".
João Lourenço "is giving the message that he is still in his mandate, he is in his leadership period and that he needs, in terms of the State structure, to comply with the governance program adopted in 2022", he said.
"Politics is a game and as in any game, competition, only teams win whose players or athletes submit themselves to the organization and discipline of the collective, and respect the rules of the game and guidance from the technical team", said João Lourenço at the opening of the meeting of the Central Committee.
João Lourenço passed the message to "those people who pontificated, like Higino Carneiro, who openly stated that he will run to succeed João Lourenço in the 9th Ordinary Congress of 2026, and, therefore, it is a warning that he is giving that he needs to finish his term and that the issue of elections cannot be raised at this time", concluded David Sambongo.
