This militant of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) since March 2001 submitted on the 12th of this month the letter expressing his intention, the first formally submitted to the party structures.
"I did not receive any 'feedback' from comrade president or vice president. I don't know what this silence means, but it is not a silence that will harm the party or me, because I took the steps that the statutes say", said Valdir Cónego in statements to the press, on the sidelines of the MPLA's VIII extraordinary congress taking place between Monday and Tuesday in Luanda.
The journalist stated that he made his intention known to all party structures and to its leader, João Lourenço, considering it "very normal" for him to present his candidacy, because he meets the requirements to be president of the party, one of which is more than 15 years of activism.
Valdir Cónego rejected having been the target of any type of retaliation due to his intervention at a meeting of the Central Committee, of which he is a member, when he confronted João Lourenço about the adjustments to the MPLA statutes.
According to the activist, he was called to the discipline and ethics commission just to justify his absence from two meetings of the MPLA Central Committee.
"There are our comrades who don't have the courage that I have, unfortunately, so they take advantage of my interventions and create texts against the leader", he highlighted.
Regarding adjustments to the party's statutes, one of the topics under analysis at the MPLA's VIII extraordinary congress, Valdir Cónego said that, in a technical-legal analysis, the extraordinary congress would not have jurisdiction, but he considered the issue dubious, by registering in one of its articles that amendments are admitted "whenever there is a motive or reason very important to the party".
"There is a reason that comrade president thinks is important," said Valdir Cônego, citing the approach of general elections and the new administrative political division.
"It makes sense, although, as a militant, I may not agree, but I accept it, because we have a common objective, we intend to win the 2027 elections," he said.
This member of the party that supports the Government in the country reinforced that there is democracy in the MPLA, that its members may differ, but they have common objectives.
Regarding the announcement made this Monday by João Lourenço about the rejuvenation of the Political Bureau and its secretariat, Valdir Cónego considered this opportunity given to the party's young people to be positive, with cadres capable of taking on positions internally and at the level of the State apparatus.
