The Angolan president believes that Isabel dos Santos is “just one” of a number of citizens facing trial and is not her rival, rejecting allegations of political persecution.
“I don’t see her as my political rival. Political persecution? An opponent is being persecuted and the opponents of the MPLA are known,” says the head of the Angolan executive, in a joint interview with Agência Lusa and Expresso newspaper.
The businesswoman and eldest daughter of former President José Eduardo dos Santos is in the crosshairs of justice in several countries on charges of corruption and embezzlement, with Angolan authorities requesting Interpol’s help six months ago to track down Isabel dos Santos and provisional arrest. without further developments in the case being known.
“We are going to let Interpol do its job. It is often said that justice is sometimes slow to act, we rely on Interpol’s suitability and ability to fulfill its role,” says João Lourenço, adding that “procedures must be followed” . , so it is necessary to “wait patiently for the outcome”.
The head of the Angolan executive has refuted allegations of political persecution, as the businesswoman has complained, insisting that there are many citizens struggling with justice and Isabel’s case “is only one”.
“I cannot imagine that Angola would have the guts to take a José Sócrates to court for example”
As for the trial of Angola’s former Vice President Manuel Vicente, João Lourenço insists that it was “a matter of sovereignty” and that it was not Angola that caused what became known as “annoying” between the two countries.
“It was the Portuguese judicial authorities who decided to take the courts to the bar [portugueses] a ruler of that caliber. I cannot imagine, for example, that Angola would have the guts to take José Sócrates to court if he had ultimately committed a crime in Angola. Luckily the result was good (…) if it had lasted longer it might have left wounds, but I must assure you it left no wounds,” he says.
Portugal’s public prosecutor charged Manuel Vicente with active corruption, money laundering and document forgery, a trial that was sent to Angola in 2018, but according to Angola’s Attorney General, Helder Pitta Grós, is dragging due to the former vice president’s immunity.
João Lourenço prefers not to comment on the case, which is “in court”, but hopes that the judicial authorities will “do the part that falls under their responsibility”, refusing to comment on the relationship that he currently chats with the former strongman of Sonangol, as he is “engrossed 24 hours a day” in the affairs of the state.
When asked about his relationship with Álvaro Sobrinho, a Portuguese-Angolan businessman and former director of Banco Espírito Santo in Lisbon and of the BES Angola bank (BESA), he stressed that he must have reasons to stop having relationships with people.
“He has not been convicted, he has not been convicted, if he appears here, I will certainly not turn my back on him, until proven otherwise, he is a free citizen,” he replied, saying that it is justice that must speak about BESA , as for the other cases.
“In Europe it is not normal to hold heads of state accountable for cases of corruption, no one asks President Marcelo about the Jose Sócrates case. However, it is sometimes understood that it is different in Africa, especially in Angola,” disputed, stating that “this kind of differential treatment is not fair”.
Concerning the fight against corruption, he acknowledges that this problem will not go away despite the efforts and recalls that he has been at the forefront of the country for just over five years, which is about to celebrate the 50th anniversary of independence .
“You can’t expect to end corruption in five years. I don’t even know if any country has ended, in the true sense of the word, with corruption. It’s all over the world,” he noted, emphasizing that the problem “is not that there is corruption, is impunity”.
‘In 2027 I will continue to serve my country’
The Angolan president promises he will “continue to serve the country in 2027” and declined to answer whether he will try to run for a third term, currently prohibited by the constitution.
“In 2027, I will continue to serve my country wherever I am called. We are still far from that date, we are not in an election period, it is not wise to talk about presenting candidacies,” João Lourenço said on the Presidential Palace in Luanda.
“When that moment comes – and it is still a long way off – the MPLA (Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola, in power since independence) will know how to choose the best candidate and when it does, it will worry worry about not trampling even the constitution, nor the law,” the head of state replied regarding a possible third presidential term, bearing in mind that the current Angolan constitution only allows for two terms of five years each.
As for the holding of municipal elections, he prefers not to call dates “because it is risky”, but ensures that they are not affected by the new political-administrative division, which aims, among other things, to expand the current 164 to 581 municipalities. , since this territorial reorganization does not imply autarkic power.
“I cannot hold municipal elections without being based on the law,” he insisted, claiming that the conclusion of the municipal legislative package still depends on the passing of some laws in the National Assembly that “does not depend on just one political side”. .
João Lourenço also said that he does not turn his back on dialogue with the opposition and that the MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola), the party that leads Angola and has been in power since independence in 1975, is available to make other proposals discuss.
“I talk to everyone, I even talk to people in the opposition who are not the leaders, because they ask for an audience and as a general rule I receive it,” the leader insisted.
But, he continued, “you don’t want to think that everything that comes from the opposition is good.”
“They are free to make the proposals they want and discuss with us and then we either accept or we don’t. That’s what happens with the municipal legislative package,” he said, noting that “it’s not realistic” to do, because the first time municipal elections across the country, as defended by UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola).
In the last elections in Angola, the MPLA lost the constitutional majority and any change to presidential term limits or other issues of the constitution will have to be enabled by UNITA.
João Lourenço remains committed to the search for the remains of the victims of May 27, 1977
In the interview, the Angolan president reiterates his government’s commitment to continue the search for the remains of the victims of May 27, 1977 and to respect the conclusions of the experts on identification.
João Lourenço responds to the allegations of relatives of some of those victims that the remains given to them do not correspond to those declared, after DNA analysis: “It is a task of great patience, of great rigor, the only guarantee what we give is that we, the authorities of the country, submit to the conclusions of the scientific research carried out by the specialists”.
At issue are the remains, including of leaders José Van-Dúnem, Sita Valles and Rui Coelho, arrested and killed during the alleged coup attempt on May 27, 1977.
Rui Coelho was chief of staff to then Prime Minister Lopo do Nascimento, Sita Valles had already been expelled from the MPLA and worked as a doctor in a hospital and José Van-Dúnem was a political commissar, although he had been expelled from the Central Committee days before, along with Nito Alves, the most prominent member of the group.
His next of kin were informed last year of the whereabouts of his bones, but a forensic investigation that was now carried out in Portugal showed that the DNA of the next of kin did not match that of the remains.
The fact raised suspicions about the intentions of the Angolan government, but João Lourenço claims that conducting these investigations serves precisely to confirm or not confirm the supposed identities.
“There will certainly be cases where certain remains are thought to be from the A family and the B family and the investigation will come to the conclusion that this is not the case, which is perfectly normal,” he says. .
But “what cannot be done from the outset is to come out and say that the government had a deliberate intent to deceive A or B. I know what case you are referring to, I think what is being done is not fair. ” with Angola,” the head of state replies.
João Lourenço also denies that his government has received any formal charges related to this matter. But when that happens, “we have nothing to hide”.
“The specialists are the competent authority to say that these remains coincide with those of the A family or the B family and they are free to express the conclusions of their work. It is or not. In the event, they said it’s not, that’s fine, it’s not. We will continue to search. It may be that the real remains are found,” he assures.
And he concludes: “that’s why we never go against the results of the specialists” and “insist that this is really” the victim. “No, if the specialists say it isn’t, then it isn’t. That’s the attitude we’ve taken so far.”
In March, an association representing the May 27 orphans issued an open letter accusing the government of abusing the supply of remains to campaign.
In a “letter to Angola”, the orphans denounce the “propaganda machine” of the Angolan government and CIVICOP – Commission for Reconciliation in Memory of the Victims of Political Conflicts, when performing funeral ceremonies and handing over bodies “in public ceremonies held on a large scale widely televised. , on the eve of presidential elections”, which they now describe as “an exercise in brutality”.
“The country saw it. The whole country saw and experienced this moment as a time of truth and reconciliation. However, not all of us unquestioningly received the remains that were declared to be of our parents. Some of us asked for DNA testing be carried out to confirm the identity of the corpses,” they explain in the document.
Source: DN
