David Mendes was speaking at a press conference in which he announced that he had already sent the formal request to the president of the National Assembly for his departure from UNITA's parliamentary group, after death threats he had received, without the party's leadership showing solidarity.
Asked if he has proof of the accusation against Adalberto da Costa Júnior, he recalled that he is a lawyer and knows that he cannot accuse without proof.
"If I say that the demonstration of the 24th (of October), the demonstration of the 11th (of November), the demonstration of the 4th of February is programmed is because I have proof, because I am part of the same club, of the people contacted to make the turn," said David Mendes, assuring that he is part of the restricted club, without wanting to mention the names of other members.
The lawyer stated that he will not leave the parliament and will act as a deputy not registered on any parliamentary bench, in respect to the people who elected him, fruit of the electoral work he did for UNITA.
The departure of the parliamentary group from UNITA, justified the politician, was due to a deep reflection on what was the attitude of the party's leadership.
"The fact that direct death threats were published on the UNITA-Brussels website against a member of parliament assigned to UNITA's parliamentary bench, I thought that was very serious and that it should have a firm position from UNITA's leadership," he said, pointing out that he did not see such support from the party's leadership.
According to the former deputy of the second largest political force in the country, the party leadership has taken firm positions in many other cases of death threats, but in his case, "instead of condemning them they still advertised on their website.
"I also regret the way that UNITA president Adalberto da Costa Júnior treated me, I found it disrespectful, I think he forgot that he was dealing with an adult person, a politician and above all a head of a family, (...) even as if he was yelling at someone, [that] accelerated the decision to leave the UNITA parliamentary group," he stressed.
David Mendes stressed that his support for Alcides Sakala's election campaign for UNITA's presidency caused the party's new leadership, to which Adalberto da Costa Júnior ascended last year, to take him as an adversary.
"I am sorry, because I would never be his opponent, because I was not a member and militant of UNITA. At no time would I be interested in being his adversary, but I believe that in democracy we support who we think is convenient," he added.
The politician, who guarantees that an affiliation to the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) is discarded, always manifested that he was not interested in entering UNITA, stating that "there were many approaches, a lot of corridors, a lot of talk," but he never manifested this interest because he could not accept being a grassroots militant.
David Mendes said he watched a lot of pressure in the party to stop making comments on a television program, on Zimbo TV, but, he emphasized, he was not invited to make "political debates," but to comment on facts.
"People didn't want comment, they wanted political debate, my understanding. That space is not for political debate, but for political comment," he said, reiterating that "you should never join the MPLA," because your struggle is one of political alternation.
On Sunday, the independent deputy announced his departure from UNITA's Parliamentary Group, during the space of analysis that he plays weekly on Zimbo TV, claiming to have been morally offended and threatened with death by a group of young people, on social networks, for criticizing UNITA's involvement in the October 24 demonstration attempt.
Asked about information that the Revolutionary Movement is against him, David Mendes rejected, justifying that on Wednesday he received support from some of its members, who said they would not admit "any threat against the one they consider to be their father.
"There is in fact a person from the Revolutionary Movement, who is registered from Brazil against me, only people don't know that this person is in Brazil studying with a scholarship paid by Adalberto da Costa Júnior," he said.
"Much of what is out there on the social networks is paid by Adalberto da Costa Júnior and I can prove it," he added.
In a comparative analysis, David Mendes pointed out that, unlike UNITA, in MPLA you can write anything against the party or its leader, João Lourenço: "you won't see militants or followers of MPLA making threats or offending you.
"But write something about Adalberto Costa Júnior, about UNITA, you will see that even death threats do, more elementary offenses do. This does not dignify a party the size of UNITA," he said.
In his speech, David Mendes made it clear that he is not in confrontation with the party, but with its leader, the person who convinced him to be UNITA's candidate for parliament, stressing that an internal reflection on its future is necessary, because when members of the political commission are suspended for issuing an opinion, "that party has to reflect in order not to become a dictatorship.
David Mendes also said he never accepted the attempt to force deputies to write in advance what they will say in the National Assembly and refer it to the board for consideration.
