Angola’s main opposition party, UNITA, has re-elected Adalberto Costa Júnior as leader of the opposition. The Constitutional Court had in 2019 annulled his election as party leader in October.
The decision of the court was announced on the same day that UNITA formed a coalition with two other groups to increase its chances of defeating the long-ruling MPLA in elections due in August 2022.
The re-appointed leader of the opposition after the announcement of his victory charged the party members to embrace change, he said; “the time has come to build a new and better Angola, without unrealistic promises and megalomaniac projects, a working Angola where everyone has a place and to which everyone can contribute. The time has come to put an end to corruption, to theft, the time has come for democratic change”
Former UNITA president, Isaias Samakuva, stepped in as interim leader after Junior’s ousting in October.
Costa Junior, 59, is seen as the main threat to President João Lourenço, 67, who is expected to seek a second term.