Luanda - Angolan President João Lourenço has ruled out the possibility of changing the constitution to allow him to serve a third term as head of state.
In an interview with the French magazine "Jeune Afrique" on Thursday, João Lourenço made it clear that if his party, the MPLA, had any intention of changing the constitution to allow a third term, it would have done so in the first term.
"In the first term, we discussed everything else and didn't touch this issue of limiting the term of office to two terms," the Head of State said, stressing that no one could have prevented this change at the time, since the MPLA had a qualified two-thirds majority at the time.
"In local parlance, the MPLA held the knife and the cheese, and we didn't use the knife to cut the cheese according to our interests," Lourenço said.
Permanent reconciliation
João Lourenço said that reconciliation is an ongoing process with no end date: "It's an ongoing process, and it's clear that as time goes on, there may not be as much need for people to talk about reconciliation. It will continue to happen, even subtly, without people realizing it".
The president stressed that Angola has no reason to complain about this process, considering that the country has not returned to war in 23 years, although he acknowledged that not everything has been perfect in these 23 years, "but the simple fact that the country has not returned to armed conflict is reason enough for us to feel happy.
Forgiveness for the armed conflicts
The president explained that the request for forgiveness that he recently addressed to the nation concerned the victims of all the conflicts that have taken place on the national territory since the proclamation of national independence, not only those of May 27.
"It is obvious that among these conflicts, the one that was most visible was undoubtedly the one of May 27, and not only that, there was the story of the unnecessary deaths in Jamba, where people were thrown into the fire and the public was forced to watch and feed the flames of the fire," said the Head of State.
João Lourenço referred to the politically motivated assassinations of figures such as Tito Chingnji and Wilson dos Santos. "Therefore, in relation to all this, I understood that we should put a stone on top and begin a new peace".
Profile of his successor
João Lourenço said he would like his successor to serve the country as well or better than he does, having expressed his willingness to continue serving the country after the end of his term.
"Serving the country does not have to mean having functions acquired through an election or an appointment, as the patriot that I am, as long as I'm healthy, I'm sure I'll continue to serve my country in the best way I can, speaking, writing, I'll contribute to the progress of my country," he concluded.DC/ART/AMP
