Luanda, Sept. 30, 2024 (Lusa) - The jurist Rui Verde said on Monday that the transition process in Angola "is not merely formal", with the electoral victory of another political party, advocating a broad consensus with all the forces of society.

His position was expressed today during the Conference on the Organisation of the State in Angola, an initiative of the UFOLO Centre for Studies on Good Governance, when he addressed the topic ‘A Constitution Beyond the Transition and a Transition Beyond the Constitution’, as part of the panel on ‘The Constitution and Current Political Challenges’.

"Many people think that, in 2027, all UNITA [the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, the largest opposition party] has to do is win the elections and there will be a transition and everything will be resolved," warned the jurist and lecturer at Oxford University and the University of Paris Cité.

Rui Verde said he doubted that this would be the case, looking at structural issues, namely "the lack of experience in situations of alternation in Angola, the existence of interests intertwined with family clans and the whole history of past hostility".

"I have my doubts that this mere electoral transition is possible," he said.

The academic stressed that the transition in Angola cannot be based solely on existing legal-constitutional mechanisms, but "a broad consensus must be sought, involving defence and security forces, civil society, the churches, possible third parties, economic forces, knowing that everyone has to give in a little, to make sacrifices and build consensus".

Drawing parallels with what happened in Spain during the transition process, with the succession of the dictator Francisco Franco to King Juan Carlos, the jurist emphasised that "law is not enough, constitutional rules are not enough, political reality has to be added to any successful move".

According to Rui Verde, in Spain, the transition knew how to combine politics and the law.

"They called in the communists, the socialists, but at the same time, as they were from the regime, they guaranteed the loyalty of the military, the police, the elites and they managed to bring everyone together with the aim of creating a democracy in Spain and a market economy, while at the same time warding off the reactionary attempts to which the military and police were linked, because they swore loyalty, but they also warded off the more radical attempts at change," he explained.

That's why he said he doesn't believe that the transition in Angola "is purely and simply about making a change, by the mere electoral victory of another party. It will always be a fictitious change or one that will generate a lot of turmoil or confusion."

"The new leaders, who will emerge from the congresses now of UNITA and the MPLA [Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, the party in power since 1975], need to have a sense of future historical responsibility, of creating a pact for future generations," he added.

For Rui Verde, only after "this political process can we think about a national constituent convention, the new constitution that many people are talking about, which generates a pacted constitution subject to a referendum, which finally fulfils the expectations of the people".

According to Rui Verde, Angola has been a country in transition since 1975, the year of its independence, and the latest began in 2017, with the Angolan president, João Lourenço, trying to foment an internal transition, "that is, within the regime itself, within the system itself, to implement a new transition".

"João Lourenço's attempt accelerated history. The MPLA of today is not that of 2017, international relations are not those of 2017, society, the economy, everything has accelerated, everything has changed, everything is in a great whirlwind. History has accelerated," he said.

Rui Verde emphasised that, with this acceleration of history in the world, in the Portuguese-speaking country "all the facts that were taken for granted in the last ten years are now not".

"Angola's best friend today no longer seems to be China, it's going to be the US, today it seems that the MPLA is no longer invincible, it could even lose the next elections," he argued.

NME/AYLS // AYLS

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