Luanda – The first day of the electoral campaign for the general elections on 24 August was dominated by mass rallies and marches staged by the contending political parties and religious services.
UNITA opened its campaign in Lubango, province of Huíla, where its president, Adalberto Costa Júnior, appealed to the party's militants to maintain a civic stance, without giving in to provocations.
Still in Lubango, the president of the Humanist Party of Angola (PHA), Florbela Malaquias, stressed that if she wins the elections, she intends to invest in the sectors of agriculture and health, “crucial for the economic and social growth of the country”.
Speaking to her electorate during the mass event, the only woman running for the presidency of the Republic considered it essential to invest heavily in agriculture, in order to reduce and/or fight hunger and poverty.
In Huambo, the National Patriotic Alliance (APN) also held a mass rally, during which its candidate for vice-president of the Republic, Noé Mateus, said that promoting the well-being of youth is the greatest challenge of the programme of party governance.
In the same province in central Angola, the president of the Nationalist Party for Justice in Angola (P-NJANGO), Eduardo Chingunji, said that his party has defined the eradication of poverty in the country as a governance objective, if the party wins the elections.
In Malanje, the provincial secretary of UNITA, Mardanês Calunga, stressed
that his party is committed to the development of the agricultural sector to combat hunger and poverty among Angolans, with the objective being to promote agriculture based on local resources.
The Social Renewal Party (PRS) began its activity in the country's capital, with the participation of its president, Benedito Daniel, in the service alluding to the seventy-third anniversary of the foundation of the Tocoísta Church, in which members of the MPLA and other formations.
Speaking at the Sunday religious session, the politician urged the population to participate in the electoral campaign, with civic and patriotic spirit, recalling that religious congregations play a crucial role in the civic education of citizens, in addition to bringing together a large number of citizens.
In turn, the MPLA candidate for President of the Republic, João Lourenço, defended Sunday (24) the resolution of differences between the different political and social actors in the country, through open and transparent dialogue.
He appealed to Angolans to engage in the consolidation of peace, national reconciliation, deepening of democracy and the economic and social development of the country.
While, the Broad Convergence for the Salvation of Angola - Electoral Coalition (CASA-CE) dedicated this first day of airtime on national radio of Angola (RNA) to the presentation of its head-of-list, Manuel Fernandes, marking the opening your campaign.
The ten minutes of airtime were also used for the candidate for President of the Republic, Manuel Fernandes, to recognise the political and electoral maturity of the Angolan citizen, in terms of elections, due to the four electoral processes that Angola has lived through.
The National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA), opened its electoral campaign, in Cuanza Sul, with a mass political event, in the municipality of Seles, guided by its provincial secretary, António Sebastião, while the party's president, Nimi, Simbi, took advantage of the airtime at TPA to present the four fundamental axes of the Governance Programme.
António Sebastião spoke about the programmes of this political training to create more jobs, build schools and hospitals across the country, in addition to providing for improvements in the supply of electricity and drinking water.
However, alongside the official start of the campaign, 2,000 national and foreign observers were accredited Sunday (24) by the National Election Commission (CNE) to monitor the process.
