Sociologist Paulo Ingles believes there are two reasons for the dismissal of Pedro Sebastian and other officers of the President’s Security House. “The first [objetivo de João Lourenço] it is getting rid of a few people who can ultimately hurt your image as a fighter against corruption. Second, it has electoral goals. Trying to use it to your advantage. “– emphasizes the Angolan sociologist.
The next presidential election is slated for 2022 and the current president of Angola is expected to be a candidate alongside Angola, observer Adalberto da Costa Junior noted. during a visit to Portugal at the end of April, is already participating in the election campaign, and the MPLA opposition is completing the creation of a united “democratic front” in order to fight João Lourenço next year.
In addition to his electoral goals, Filomena Vieira López of the Democratic Bloc adds that after the dismissal of a very close person [Pedro Sebastião]João Lourenço intends to “preserve the prestige of the fight against corruption.” “The idea is to rebuild positions, to try to say that the fight against corruption is not selective because people in your own office are involved and punished.”, underlines.
When he took office in 2017, replacing José Eduardo dos Santos, João Lorenzo made the fight against corruption a core of his mandate. almost four years laterdespite targets close to its predecessor (namely sons of Jose Eduardo dos Santos), the President of Angola showed greater resistance to taking action against important figures in the MPLA or those close to him, which led the opposition to talk about double criteria and double standards in the fight against corruption.
What can be seen as an attempt to respond to criticism of recent days, on Tuesday the inauguration of Francisco Pereira Furtado, who replaced Pedro Sebastian as head of the President’s Security House, Lawrence called for the end of the “ghost” officers. (fraudulent payment scheme) in the Angolan security forces and asked BNA and the Financial Information Group to tighten controls over banking operations to prevent the recurrence of cases such as those being investigated under Operation Crab.
“[João Lourenço] goodwill may exist, but the problem of corruption in Angola is not only goodwill, but reforms that will revitalize institutions. And these reforms were never made “– complains the economist Prezioso Domingos.
