And to prove that there are a lot of people supporting him, he called a demonstration for Saturday. “It is necessary for the MPLA to realize that it is not through violence that societies take place,” he says.
Did the decision of the Constitutional Court not to accept the registration of the PRA-JA Servir Angola party surprised you?
I was not surprised because my life for the past ten years has been like this. Suffice it to mention that it was the same Constitutional Court that dismissed me as president of CASA-CE, alleging the principle that I was not a member of any of the constituent parties of the coalition.
However, he endorsed my replacement, Admiral Miau [André Mendes Carvalho], who is also not a member of any of the parties. During the process, there was an information leak and a note sent by the MPLA political bureau, signed by Dr. Rui Ferreira, giving guidance to the Constitutional Court, which started circulating on social networks. And, in fact, the court acted according to the guidelines of that note.
What exists is persecution. Obviously, the MPLA is afraid. In the 2017 elections, CASA-CE and I had a score far beyond what was reported, so they are making [the party] unviable because they do not want to repeat the scare they had in 2017. Besides, as in past, with José Eduardo dos Santos, as now, with João Lourenço, what they want is to co-opt me for the Government. But I can not. First, because we do not share the same vision about Angola. And, second, because I have responsibilities to those who believe in me and have followed me. I cannot join the MPLA government and abandon people.
Doesn’t João Lourenço want him as an opponent in 2022?
The entire MPLA, including President João Lourenço, is afraid. And we had conversations. With the President, I have had conversations in private, as friends, as citizens. And I realized that, directly.
Do you have a “plan B” now that the PRA-JA has not been approved?
At this point, we have established a two-tier strategy. We will continue to litigate with the court, with a request for confirmation of reasons or initiating a judicial process against the Constitutional Court before the Supreme Court for violation of citizenship rights and lack of truth. However, we have been structuring our alternative for a long time. We have a clear idea that, with PRA-JA or without PRA-JA, in 2022 we will participate in the general elections. What we are going to do is just speed up the process of structuring this alternative, which already exists.
What alternative is that?
We decided that, until we have finished the arrangements, we will not announce. The only thing we say is that there will be participation because we already have alternatives.
Are you looking for an existing party to run for election?
In Angola, at the moment, there are the MPLA machine, the UNITA machine and the PRA-JA machine. Obviously, there are parties that are interested in being able to use the PRA-JA machine, but we must have a base, I would not say ideological, but a base of values, principles, and common purposes. It’s not just joining for joining. It is more a matter of having a close identity and making arrangements.
Are you aiming for the 2022 general elections?
Our aim is to participate and contribute to the evolution of the democratic process in Angola, in order to lift the country out of indigence and citizens from suffering and poverty. If we have to win, we win. And we govern. We probably have a better view of Angola’s future than the MPLA. It has been 45 years with the MPLA in the Government and Angola is a country where the majority of the population is poor.
What could Chivukuvuku and PRA-JA give Angola?
Angola is not an abstract thing, Angola is the people, the 30 million Angolans, and any governance project must take into account the realization of these Angolans. The idea that Angola’s wealth is oil, diamonds, is a fallacy. These are all exhaustible resources. Now, Angolan citizens are an inexhaustible resource. The whole project of society has to turn to the realization of people and in the first place there must be education, the viability of Angola must pass through training.
The MPLA has always had a kind of insensitivity to the human person. In less than ten years, Angola lost about 100 billion [100 billion] of robbery that could have served to leverage these people with education, health, employment and life prospects. It makes no sense to be a potentially rich country, but with the majority of the poor population.
During the fat cow decade (from 2004 to 2014) – when there was a combination of two extraordinary factors, our oil production almost doubled at a time when in the international markets the price of oil went up – there was a waste, but at the same time , a middle class was emerging – minority, incipient. This middle class has returned to poverty again. Was it a lost decade?
A decade wasted – we had resources, but there were poor investments and waste. There is no point in making an international airport in Léua, Moxico, in the east of the country, where not even domestic flights go. An international airport was built there just to hold a summit between President José Eduardo dos Santos and the Presidents of Zambia, DRC [Democratic Republic of Congo] and Namibia. It was the only time the planes went there. We had opportunities
With José Eduardo dos Santos, as now with João Lourenço, what they want is to co-opt me for the Government that we have wasted. A different form of governance must be found, with sensitivity and vision.
There is a demonstration scheduled for tomorrow. Is it an expression of strength from PRA-JA?
Since 2019 I have been pressured by citizens to go to the street. I was always careful not to go down that path, because I believed that we could, legally, do things. Right now, we are at a level of exhaustion where we no longer accept this abuse of power by the MPLA. And that is why I called the demonstration, to demonstrate that we have citizens with us, who would be able to form three or four parties.
Are you going to do the demonstration even with the restrictions in force because of the covid?
Citizenship rights do not cease to exist because of the pandemic. It is debatable whether the calamity decree that the
President exarou is legal from a constitutional point of view, but, anyway, we will exercise our citizenship rights. It is true that I received many threats, namely that I may be shot on Saturday, and I have said that I am not afraid. I am not afraid, I have been shot several times here in Luanda by the MPLA.
This is not exactly what scares me. My number four in the organization, Isaías Sambangala, was shot this weekend, the car I was driving in was hit by five bullets, and I realize that this is a message for me, an attempt to give substance to this threat. Fortunately, by God’s will, he left unscathed. It is necessary for the MPLA to realize that it is not through violence that societies take place. I was shot in 1992, I was shot in 1998, but that’s not why I’m going to give up.
On Saturday, I will be with the citizens to express our revolt against this tendency to use power to exclude and make citizens’ lives unfeasible. Angola is not yet a democratic state, Angola is still a state in transition to democracy. And we, the citizens, must fight so that we can one day have a democratic and legal state. Are you going to head the demonstration? I will be at the head of the demonstration. Despite the threats and despite the attack on my colleague.
We are at a level of exhaustion where we no longer accept this abuse of power by the MPLA
