Nothing like that. Rather, on the contrary, Agostinho Neto sentenced that day, as we read in the Text of the Proclamation of Independence, the following:
«Realizing the aspirations of the broad popular masses concretely, the People’s Republic of Angola, under the guidance of the MPLA, is progressively moving towards a State of Popular Democracy. With the alliance of workers and peasants at their core, all patriotic strata will be united against imperialism and its agents.
The organs of the State of the People’s Republic of Angola will be guided by the superior guidelines of the MPLA while maintaining the primacy of the structures of the Movement over those of the State. »
Now, from 1975 to 1992, the aforementioned “State of Popular Democracy” was but a Communist-inspired (Marxist-Leninist) state, of a single party, without rights, freedoms and guarantees, a planned economy, etc. Nothing to do with the Democratic Rule of Law and Market Economy.
Basically, Holden Roberto (leader of the FNLA) and Jonas Savimbi (leader of UNITA) remained: ; (2) submission and extinction of FNLA and UNITA (the staff would eventually be absorbed by the regime); and (3) withdrawal and exile abroad.
Jonas Savimbi, unlike Holden Roberto, decided that he would resist, and so it did. The resistance war to change the political system and the regime led to the end of the People’s Republic of Angola and gave way to the Republic of Angola.
As you can see, in 1975 the MPLA imposed its will and took power (in violation of the Alvor Agreement) according to its power project. It was necessary that UNITA had carried out ferocious political-military resistance against the MPLA regime so that the establishment of a Democratic State of Law and of Market Economy was a reality, even if partial in terms of effective materiality.
The MPLA’s power project knows no limits but itself. As I pointed out in an earlier text (available here), that party would be able to plunge Angola into war again if war were the last resort to remain in power.
In this year, which is in its last days, it became evident that using different maracutaias (the pandemic was just one), municipalities will not be a reality in Angola in the short term as long as the MPLA does not want to, that is, in light of its power project, municipalities (and other national commitments) should not be implemented in Angola until after 2022. The MPLA’s strategy engine came to the conclusion that implementing municipalities before 2022 would create serious problems in maintaining its power. The present national state of disenchantment and anti-MPLA rage would lead to its defeat in the key municipalities of Angola, so in the 2022 elections, the MPLA’s defeat would be so great that it would take an effort of gigantic proportions to be able to manipulate the results electoral.
I question: will the Angolan people – already fed up with disastrous 45-year governance – simply let the MPLA manage the issue of autarchies at will, or will it force the delinquent party to implement autarchies in the light of popular will?
Obviously, the People must not only not allow the MPLA to transform the agenda of the municipalities into a mechanism for maintaining power, but they must use the various means at their disposal to put an end to the delinquent party’s desire to postpone Angola once again.
On the media, let’s not be naive: sofa citizenships, public appeals, public petitions, and the National Assembly will be useless.
At present, the mechanism of political pressure that the MPLA fears the most and that best fits the popular strategy of forcing the implementation of municipalities before 2022 is this: manifestation.
I am not talking about demonstrations by half a dozen people. In the last 3 months of 2020, it became evident that it is possible – with demonstrations – to fill the streets of the country and, in this way, compel the MPLA to choose between giving in and seeing itself as a dead-end, ending up precipitating his dismissal.
Demonstrations should last for days, weeks, or months, if possible. This is not the distillation of a romantic vision. It’s possible. For that, it will be necessary a logistics that can be supported through an extensive and organized network of contributions.
The demonstrations should, if necessary, stop the country.
The rule is simple: do not let João Lourenço and the MPLA sleep.
I propose the following calendar of continuous events:
1 – Demonstration of 4 January 2021;
2 – Demonstration of 4 February 2021;
3 – Demonstration of March 15, 2021;
4 – Demonstration of 4-5 April 2021;
5 – Demonstration of May 1, 2021;
6 – Demonstration of 5 June 2021;
7 – Demonstration of 3 July 2021;
8 – Demonstration of 7 August 2021;
9 – Demonstration of 17 September 2021;
10 – Demonstration of 15 October 2021;
11 – Demonstration of 11 November 2021;
12 – Demonstration of 10 December 2021.
Each demonstration must be held in each provincial capital. Membership will be guaranteed through an efficient and effective awareness and mobilization process.
We are millions, and against millions, the MPLA cannot prevail.
Nuno Álvaro Dala
