Luanda, December 11 - The Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) party currently enjoys strong internal unity, despite some members' intentions to participate in the upcoming electoral contest, according to its president João Lourenço.
The political leader and Angolan head of state affirmed that individuals are free to express their opinions and run as candidates, expressing no concern over these aspirations.
Speaking to the press on the eve of the MPLA’s 69th anniversary and the inauguration of a new headquarters, Lourenço emphasized that, in accordance with the Constitution, the party will present only one candidate before the Constitutional Court.
“Who the candidate will be is a matter to wait for,” he said, adding that the issue will be revisited at the appropriate time as the elections approach.
The MPLA president noted that the party’s next ordinary Congress, scheduled for next year, will fully comply with its statutes, ensuring transparency and impartiality in the process of selecting the candidate to run in the upcoming general elections.
This matter has fueled speculation in the country, as Lourenço will have completed his two terms and is constitutionally barred from seeking another.
The opposition accuses the president of preparing the ground for re-election, an allegation he has categorically denied, assuring that the party will respect the Constitution.
Meanwhile, movements within the MPLA’s structures and documents, such as Mara Quiosa’s election last December as the party’s vice president and the amendment of the statutes, have raised expectations.
This change allows the MPLA’s candidates for president and vice president of the Republic to be appointed by the party’s Central Committee, upon the proposal of the Political Bureau, instead of being solely designated by the party president as was previously the case.
Speculation has also grown following the appointment last November of Adão de Almeida, former chief of the Presidential Civil House, as president of the National Assembly, replacing Carolina Cerqueira.
Adding to this are statements from party figures such as General Francisco Higino Lopes Carneiro, who publicly expressed his intention to run for president.
Lopes Carneiro is currently under investigation by the Attorney General’s Office, which has opened two cases related to events during his tenure as governor of Cuando Cubango and Luanda provinces.
He is specifically accused of misusing public funds for private purposes while serving in the southern province of Cuando Cubango, and of serious fraud, as he allegedly received over 60 vehicles from a private company during his term in Luanda.
