ACJ, the sole candidate for the leadership of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), was elected with 96.43 percent of the votes of the more than 1,000 delegates present, after being removed following a decision by the Constitutional Court that declared null the XIII Congress held in November 2019, where he had been elected maximum representative of the party.
In his speech after the inauguration, after 9 pm, which marked the closing of the XIII Congress and the culmination of another long journey after three days of work, the official underlined that this "day of celebration" proved the "dislike " of the Angolans before the ruling that dictated the annulment of the conclave held two years earlier.
"This second XIII Ordinary Congress also showed that the party belongs to its militants and they are the ones who democratically decide what the party wants and what party will do," said the politician, warning: "It will not be the government [MPLA] or any group minority that will be able to impose their decisions", in an allusion to the militants suspended preventively for disciplinary reasons.
Celebrating this second victory, ACJ said that it also belongs "to all Angolans, who yearn for change, democratic change and true democracy" and declared that UNITA is a party of young people and of the future.
He also addressed the Angolan people, saying that "the time has come for hope, to embrace a different life, to build a new and better Angola", exhorting not the militants but all Angolans: "Come with us".
" his baptism of fire", in Moxico.
"Today, with the same determination as 1966, we renew our commitment to serving Angola and Angolans first," said ACJ, noting that he re-applied with the purpose of leading Unita for the governance of the country.
"This is a new beginning, two years after having won a plural and democratic congress," he continued, adding that today the country's challenges are more difficult, given the deterioration of the political, economic and social fabric.
"We remain calm, we will do everything to, in the best of our Angolan tradition, sit in Ondjango (meeting space) with our President of the Republic," he stressed.
"Our future starts in August 2022 (the date scheduled for the general elections) but it has to be conquered every day," continued the UNITA leader, renewing his commitment to lead the broad United Patriotic Front (an electoral platform that joins the UNITA two other political forces) for alternation.
ACJ also left a word of appreciation to the outgoing president who "inherited a thankless mission", with Isaías Samakuva also declaring his support for the re-elected president.
Samakuva, who spoke before ACJ, said that UNITA gave this congress "another proof of vitality" and that "despite external interference" it managed to overcome a very complicated phase in its history, from which it emerged "with more strength, more vitality and more strength".
He congratulated ACJ on the success that allowed him to retake the position of UNITA president, after nearly two months, pointing out the large majority of militants who chose him and "who through their vote expressed their confidence to continue at the helm of this great boat that is called UNITA".
After the nautical metaphor, Samakuva moved to an aeronautical metaphor. With regard to the general elections scheduled for next year, he called on the party apparatus to be "ready to take off the victory that Angolans have been waiting for in 2022", as it is time to "put the plane flying, with all its engines on high rotation" to land in the Upper City, the center of political power, in just over eight months.
He wanted the plane to fly through the clouds without turbulence and with "a steady pilot in charge," assuring ACJ they can count on him.
The XIII Ordinary UNITA Congress took place between Thursday and Saturday at the SOVSMO complex in Viana (Luanda) and had the participation of 1140 delegates out of the 1150 planned, as nine militants have since been suspended.
UNITA President says Angola's future begins in August 2022
UNITA president, Adalberto da Costa Júnior (ACJ), stated at the congress that he had been re-elected, that Angola's future began in August 2022, an election year, and that he had resumed his commitment to the United Patriotic Front.
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