Angola’s president expressed concern on Sunday about the instability in southern African countries, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique, and defended “free and transparent” elections as the only way to power.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the president of the Comoros, Azali Assoumani, João Lourenço emphasised that “the only sustainable and legitimate way to gain power in Africa is through free, fair and transparent elections”, which allow for “celebrating the feast of democracy”.
“Leaders who emerge from elections can count on a broad and consistent popular base, which allows them to govern legitimately in a climate of greater serenity and stability,” emphasised the Angolan head of state at the stadium where Azali Assoumani was sworn in for his fourth term, third in a row, to which he was re-elected in January’s elections.
João Lourenço said that the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region continues “to be a good example in terms of regularly holding free and transparent elections, the results of which do not, as a rule, generate violent contestation” that threatens the order and stability of the countries.
Angola’s president recalled that general elections were being held this year in Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, and South Africa. He said he hoped “once again, that the results will be respected by all the competing parties.”
He also expressed concern about the situation of instability and war in some of the SADC member states, namely Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRCongo), to which he declared his support and solidarity.
The DRC recently suffered an attempted coup d’état, while Mozambique has been facing an insurgency in Cabo Delgado, in the north of the country, for several years.
Lourenço also expressed concern about the armed conflict in Sudan, which has caused a large number of victims and generated a large number of refugees, “destabilising neighbouring countries”, and called for this war not to be forgotten.
“We understand that international humanitarian agencies are prioritising assistance to other ongoing conflicts, particularly in Palestine, in order to deal above all with the serious humanitarian catastrophe facing the civilian population of the Gaza Strip, but the Sudanese people deserve equal attention and the war in Sudan cannot be a war that is forgotten and simply ignored by the international community,” appealed the Angolan head of state.
João Lourenço praised Azali Assoumani for his role as Acting President of the African Union in 2023, for his realistic and pragmatic approach to “the main problems facing Africa”.
“This is a legacy we are proud of and which will serve as a guide and orientation for defining strategies to speed up the processes of promoting dialogue aimed at putting an end to conflicts on our continent and thus paving the way for the economic and social development of our countries,” he declared.
Lusa
