Luanda - More than five hundred young people staged a demonstration on Thursday at Luanda’s Largo 1º de Maio square, in protest against the rising cost of living in Angola.
No clash has been reported between the protesters and the National Police during demonstration, the third of its kind staged in the country's capital between November and December.
Protesters, many of them without masks and other means of biosafety, demanded the Executive to organise the Local Elections for 2021.
They also called for the need to adopt new measures to combat unemployment, reduce the price of basic food products, in addition to improvements in the quality of health services in Angola.
Demonstrators stated that the goal had been achieved, having praised the National Police attitude toward protest.
"Today we had a peaceful and free demonstration," André da Costa, one of the members of protesters, told Angop in Luanda.
Addressing a press conference at the end of protest, the National Police said the demonstrators had vandalised the statue of the first President of the Republic, António Agostinho Neto.
The police condemned the act, stressing that "it failed to comply with the Law" requirements.
According to the National Police spokesman in Luanda, Chief Inspector Nestor Goubel, other assumptions previously agreed with the protesters were violated.
He stated that, in the meeting with the promoters of the demonstration, it was agreed that they would remain concentrated in the lake adjacent to the Santa Ana Cemetery, and would only march out towards the 1º de Maio at around 7:30 pm.
However, the demonstrators moved to 1º de Maio before the agreed time, disrespecting what had previously been agreed and violation of the Law, he said.
During the protest, There were reports of disruption of traffic during the protest, as happened in the last demonstrations, thwarted by the National Police.
