The Portuguese president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, said this Wednesday, upon his arrival in Luanda, that relations between Angola and Portugal were built “step by step” and he hopes that “they will continue to be magnificent”, as they have been, with the new Angolan legislature. .

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa is one of the heads of state invited to participate in the investiture ceremony of the re-elected Angolan president, João Lourenço, scheduled for Thursday, after the August 24 elections.

The important day is tomorrow, which is the opening day. for me it is the second [tomada de posse] that I am attending as President of the Republic and what we naturally hope is that a period begins in which relations between Angola and Portugal continue to be as magnificent as they have been”, he told Lusa.

According to the official, who arrived this morning in Luanda, relations between Angola and Portugal “are in a very positive environment, in all areas”, especially in the economic and social spheres, which is visible “in the weight and importance of the Angolan community in Portugal .and the Portuguese community in Angola”.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also hopes that this period of consolidation of relations with Angola will be less complicated internationally than in the last five years, without a pandemic, international economic crisis or war.

“That there is not an international economic crisis like there has been over the years and that the war disappears as quickly as possible from the scenarios, that is, the one that has had the greatest effect on the price of fundamental goods and on the inflation,” he said. outside.

For the Head of State, the objective is to have a “more positive period at the international level” in the lives of people and for the different countries: “That is what matters”.

“We are doing politics and it is good that people can have better years than they had in the past,” he concluded.

João Lourenço and his Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA, in power since 1975) party were declared winners of the August 24 general election, the results of which are contested by the opposition.

The Constitutional Court proclaimed the MPLA the winner with 51.17% of the votes, followed by UNITA, with 43.95%, having failed UNITA’s electoral appeal.

Marcelo: the functioning of the institutions is not limited to voting

The President of the Republic also recalled that the functioning of the institutions is not limited to voting and that the people “want their opinions to be expressed in parliament”.

“In open political systems there are natural phenomena. One is that in parliaments there are several voices, of different weight, and that take advantage of their seats to express their positions. This gives civic and political life a lot of strength,” he noted.

Asked about the possibility that the Angolan opposition deputies do not take office, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa considered that “people want their various opinions to be expressed in parliament”, since “in daily life, citizens are also expressing their opinions.

Angola. UNITA will suffer a “significant financial impact” if it does not take office in parliament, says analyst

“It is part of the richness of political experience, in peace, which is a reality that we all highly value,” he stressed.

In his opinion, “it is good that there are different points of view and that they are expressed, some majority, others minority”, depending on the evolution of events, which also determines what the will of the people will be.

“The people vote, but the functioning of the institutions is not limited to voting, then there is the day-to-day work, the laws that are made, the political deputies, the evolution of circumstances,” said the President of the Republic.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also stressed that “history never stops at a given moment.”

“There is no end to the story, there is always more story beyond the end of the story. This has happened to me so many times, it seemed like the end of history, in my life and in the political sectors where I was, and after all there was more history. This reality is very much alive,” she commented.

As for João Lourenço, he will surely have to recreate himself in this new mandate, commented Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa: “The President was re-elected in different circumstances, pointing to an international context that wants to be different, and as a result the same people are never the same. themselves, they end up having to recreate themselves because the circumstances are not the same. We all recreate a little, every day, in politics“, he highlighted.