In a declaration alluding to the event, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) underlines that independence "is an inalienable right of all peoples" and must be based "on the rescue of everything essential that, yesterday, colonialism usurped and destroyed, that is, land, culture and freedom".
The opposition party that, on November 11, 1975, was chosen by the co-signatories of the Alvor Agreement (Portugal, and the National Front for the Liberation of Angola, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola and UNITA) as the day of proclamation of independence, culminating a process that would involve the holding of elections for the Constituent Assembly, with the liberation movements being the only candidates for it.
"After 47 years of independence, Angolan land is still not the property of the Angolan people, but of the party-state", stresses the Standing Committee of the UNITA Political Commission, in a statement.
UNITA highlights that it was the protagonist, without being the only one, of two great achievements of independent Angola – the democratic rule of law with the market economy and military peace – but "sadly, these two achievements do little to benefit the Angolan people".
"Angolan citizens are denied the participatory component of democracy, as the ruling party [MPLA, since 1975] refuses, through various manoeuvres, to institutionalize the municipalities", points out UNITA, stressing that greater cohesion and more dialogue to overcome the challenges of combating poverty, hunger and misery, unemployment and crime, among other challenges.
UNITA appeals to Angolans to honor the memory of the fathers of independence: Álvaro Holden Roberto (FNLA), António Agostinho Neto (MPLA, first Angolan President) and Jonas Malheiro Savimbi (UNITA) and also thanks the people for the democratic maturity shown in the last elections and for his attachment to peace.
"The Standing Committee of the Political Commission of UNITA urges the Angolan people to unity of purpose and action in order to materialize together, during the year 2023, the institutionalization of local authorities, as they are the irreplaceable and unavoidable path to our community development", concludes the statement from the party founded by Jonas Savimbi.
