Speaking to the TV Zimbo television station, David Mendes said he would formally leave the parliamentary bench of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), saying there were no "moral conditions" to remain in place.
"I do not share with people who have no tolerance. I do not share with people who applaud those who are threatened with death and there is no solidarity. Many UNITA leaders and deputies spoke to me and showed their solidarity, but the party lacked solidarity," said David. Mendes.
The independent deputy revealed that he had already communicated his decision to the outgoing UNITA president, Isaías Samakuva, with whom he talked for more than two hours and who tried to remove him, but without success.
"Life is priceless and my family is not willing to lose someone to a party that thinks that those who have different opinions should be physically eliminated," said David Mendes.
On Thursday, the lawyer also wrote on the social network Facebook that he was calmly waiting for "a statement" from the party leadership to a video allegedly produced by UNITA-Brussels, with death threats directed at him.
The video came after a comment by the deputy on TV Zimbo, in which he condemned the participation of UNITA in an attempted demonstration on 24 October, with the aim of demanding better living conditions, more employment and the holding of the first municipal elections.
According to David Mendes, UNITA's presence at the demonstration "was a strategic mistake", classifying the fact as a mere political advantage on the part of the Black Cock party.
"If society decides to go to a demonstration, political parties should not get involved because political parties want to achieve political power. And in a democracy political power is not reached on the street," said the independent UNITA deputy.
Prior to this case, the UNITA leadership had already requested the removal of deputy David Mendes from the analysis space "Revista Zimbo", claiming that he was not representing the party.
