“Those who think they can destroy the building of the democratic rule of law, manipulate the courts do not doubt that we are working hard to guarantee the security of the state,” Adalberto Costa Junior said at a meeting with opinion leaders. represents civil society.

The meeting, which took place at a hotel in the capital of Angola, marked the end of Adalberto Costa Junior’s campaign for the presidency of UNITA at the party convention scheduled for 2, 3 and 4 December.

In his initial statement, Adalberto Costa Junior made several commitments, namely: to carry out a constitutional review based, inter alia, on the resumption of direct elections for the President of the Republic.

Currently, the Angolan Constitution grants the head of the list of the party with the largest number of votes in the national circle the right to run as head of state in indirect elections.

“We want to return sovereignty to the Angolans (…) Today we have a president who is leaving parliament. We want to reduce the excessive powers of the president of the republic and make them controlled by the Angolans, ”he defended.

For Adalberto Costa Junior, the revision of the Constitution is “not just a project of rotation”, it is a project “to fight poverty, because it excludes, violates and kills human rights.”

Another obligation is to hold local elections “in all municipalities”.

“Society has never been the goal of listening to the models that it would like to see implemented, about development strategies, about what country we are today, what country we want to be,” he stressed.

At the end of the meeting, Adalberto Costa Junior said “not to be afraid”.

“I am not afraid of this challenge. We’re going to see it through to the end, ”he said, reaffirming his commitment to the United Patriotic Front, a political project that brings together UNITA, the Democratic Bloc and Abel Chivukuvuk, who is leading the movement to legalize as a political party.

The final meeting of the campaign of Adalberto Costa Junior took place the day after the UNITA Political Commission for the second time approved the holding of the XIII Congress on December 2, 3 and 4 and decided to preemptively suspend the activities of the militants who had appealed to the Constitutional Court (TC). make the date of the convention impossible.

The discussion took place on Sunday at the second extraordinary session of the Political Commission, according to a note to which Lusa had access and in which UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola) emphasizes that it will not tolerate further interference “from the political courts of Angola.”

This is an initiative of a group of militants who demanded to challenge the congress with the leadership of the Black Rooster party and filed an injunction in the TK, arguing that the appointment of the conclave was made in an atmosphere of “intimidation”.

At its meeting on Sunday, the Political Commission confirmed the choice of the date with 175 votes in favor (90%), 15 votes against (8%) and 3 abstentions (2%) and stressed that the autonomy of parties in internal government is ensured by the Constitution of the Republic of Angola and the Law on Political Parties.

“In accordance with these conditions, UNITA will no longer tolerate interference by the political courts of Angola in its internal life,” the note says.

In October, the TC annulled the XIII UNITA Congress, which elected Adalberto Costa Junior, citing a violation of the Constitution, forcing the party to retain its previous leadership, led by Isayas Samakuwa.

The TC ruling confirmed a group of militants who demanded that Congress be invalidated, citing several violations, including the dual citizenship of Adalberto Costa Junior (Portuguese and Angolan) on the date of his candidacy for the 13th Congress.

The decision was signed by a family of 13 councilors and was not unanimous: Judge Josefa Neto voted in favor.

The judge considered that the decision on this issue was “a violation not only of the aforementioned principle of autonomy, but also of the principle of minimum interference of the Constitutional Court, which is equally necessary to protect the autonomy of political parties.”

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