Angolan opposition cries scandal as court ousts leader

The main Angolan opposition party, UNITA, has accused the Constitutional Court of undermining democracy after judges ousted its leader, a likely presidential candidate in next year’s elections.

The court’s decision was leaked to local media on Tuesday, the same day the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) formed a coalition with two other groups to increase its chances of defeating the MPLA in the to be able to.

The president of UNITA, Adalberto Costa Junior, has been appointed leader of the coalition, known as the United Patriotic Front.

But Costa Junior resigned three days later, after the Constitutional Court officially issued a judgment overturning his November 2019 election as party president.

The decision “represents flagrant interference in the internal life of UNITA” and is “without legal basis,” the party said in a statement on Friday.

“Angola’s democratic rule of law is under threat,” he added.

Former UNITA President Isaias Samakuva took over the interim leadership and new elections were called later this month.

Speaking at a press conference in the capital Luanda, Costa Junior on Friday condemned the situation as “an attack on democracy”.

The 59-year-old is seen as the main threat to President Joao Lourenço, 67, who is set to run for a second term in elections slated for August 2022.

Lourenço’s Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) has ruled this oil-rich but impoverished southern African country since its independence from Portugal in 1975.

strs-sch / tgb