In the final statement, distributed to the press this Friday, of the 11th ordinary session of the Standing Committee of the Political Commission of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), held on Thursday, the largest opposition party expressed its solidarity with the families affected by the cholera epidemic.
The Government was urged to implement impactful measures, "capable of removing the country from the worst cholera statistics in the world, in the 50 years of independence".
Angola is struggling with a cholera outbreak, declared by the authorities on 7 January this year, which has already caused 448 deaths and 11,737 infections.
In the document, UNITA condemned the attitude of the Government which, on 13 March, detained at the 4 de Fevereiro International Airport and deported political figures, including former heads of state, invited to participate in the International Conference organized by the Democrats for Africa Platform, in Benguela.
For UNITA, the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, as president of the African Union, "owes an explanation and a public apology".
Another concern expressed by UNITA is the alleged "exclusion and persecution of political opponents", as well as the government's interference in the judicial and legislative powers and control over state media outlets, "with the ultimate aim of maintaining power".
UNITA also repudiated "any tendency by the Executive to maintain the CNE [National Electoral Commission] in its current organisational and operational form, which does not guarantee the fairness or transparency of electoral processes in Angola, and demands that the electoral administration bodies comply with SADC [Southern African Development Community] standards".
