The president of UNITA, Adalberto Costa Júnior, said, this Thursday, at a press conference in Luanda, that, when speaking, Monday, at the opening of the meeting of the MPLA Central Committee, the President, João Lourenço, "as has been his practice", he once again "attacked, without the slightest foundation, the democratic and patriotic opposition using a disconnected and hateful speech".
"The barbs he launched do not help to establish bridges of understanding, at a very critical moment like the one Angola is currently going through", he declared.
According to the leader of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), the facts attributed to the opposition by the President and the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) "do not have any hint of veracity", alluding to the statement that the parties of the opposition constituted "forces allegedly financed to overthrow the MPLA Government in Angola".
According to Costa Júnior, João Lourenço left "the idea that such forces are, for him, in his controversial lexicon, (...) 'marimbondos'" – an image associated with politicians involved in corruption in Angola.
The President reaffirmed, on Monday, the "relentless fight" against corruption and denounced that there are "forces" that finance people, organizations and political parties aiming to overthrow the MPLA, which is "truly committed" to the fight against corruption.
João Lourenço, who was speaking at the opening of the fifth ordinary meeting of the MPLA Central Committee, highlighted the reforms and measures underway in the country to strengthen and diversify the economy.
"Among these measures we highlight the courageous fight against corruption and impunity, a threat considered for years as the country's second biggest challenge after the war. At a time when World Anti-Corruption Day was celebrated on December 9, it is opportune to reaffirm here before the party, which tasked us with doing this, our determination to take this fight forward", he said.
In relation to the ongoing process of combating corruption, the MPLA president also criticized "known retrograde forces in (...) Angolan society", which, "instead of applauding and encouraging the institutions engaged in this relentless struggle, prefer to say that nothing is being done."
This behavior "aims to distort the reality of the facts while at the same time these people, organizations or political parties have made a clear alliance with those who for years have used the treasury and public assets on a large scale for their own benefit", and who, "today in an attempt returning to the golden past, they finance the fight to overthrow the MPLA, a political party truly committed to the fight against corruption", declared João Lourenço.
