Adalberto Costa Júnior spoke this Friday at the opening of the III Ordinary Meeting of the Political Commission of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), which takes place this Friday and Saturday, and also evoked the events of the 1st and 2nd of November 1992, when several party leaders and activists were killed following the political conflicts that arose after the first multi-party elections in the country.
A phase of "very serious political intolerance", he considered, in relation to the "sad events" of 31 years ago, regretting that the regime had not changed and learned from the lessons of the past, continuing "to subvert the democratic state and the rule of law and the democratic freedoms of citizens".
The president of UNITA highlighted that Angola is facing one of its most difficult moments, as the Angolan people are "exposed to the interests of a corrupt political class in the face of the fearful or self-serving silence of the remaining elites".
For the party leader, "the responsibility for the disaster that hit the country lies not only with an autocratic president", but also with the members of the leadership and deputies of the ruling party (MPLA) who place group interests above national interests.
"Angola will only find hope with genuine political alternation, as the program of the party in power is to maintain power at any price to the detriment of the national interest", he stressed.
Alternation that should begin with local elections in 2024, he suggested.
"We know that the regime is running away from this commitment", he said, adding that UNITA will continue to force the regime to fulfill "promises repeated over the years" and remembering that Angola is the only SADC country that has not implemented the power local.
Angola under the MPLA regime is not an example to follow in terms of freedom and social justice, he pointed out, despite investing "increasingly in propaganda" to "sell illusions to the world".
He also highlighted that UNITA will not give up on the proposal to dismiss the President of the Republic, in order to "save the democratic state from the collapse in which it finds itself".
He spoke, on the other hand, of the "treacherous and manipulative stance of the regime" that wanted to transform a peace and reconciliation program for conflict victims (CIVICOP) into an instrument of hatred among Angolans, pointing to the case of the bones of victims of the 27th of May that did not correspond to the true identity.
Adalberto da Costa Júnior also addressed the General State Budget for 2024, delivered on Wednesday, accusing the Angolan authorities of "subverting the numbers" in the headings destined for Education.
