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Angolan opposition Casa-Ce coalition sacks leader

Wednesday February 27 2019
Chivukuvuku

Mr Abel Chivukuvuku. ARNALDO VIEIRA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

By ARNALDO VIEIRA

Angolan opposition coalition Casa-Ce has sacked its leader Abel Chivukuvuku and named André Mendes de Carvalho the interim president.

The Broad Convergence for Angolan Salvation-Electoral Coalition (Casa-Ce) announced the decision at a press conference on Tuesday.

The press briefing was attended by the representatives of the Casa-Ce affiliates, including the Party for Democracy and Development of Angola-Patriotic Alliance (PADDA-AP) and the Free Alliance for Angolan Majority Party (PALMA).

The National Salvation for Angola Party (PNSA), the Angolan Pacific Party (PPA) and the National Alliance for Angolan Progress Democratic Party (PDP-ANA) representatives also attended the briefing.

Loss of trust

The Casa-Ce coordinator for judicial and constitutional affairs, Mr Alexandre Sebastião, said the removal of Mr Chivukuvuku was approved by all the five party affiliates.

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“The five parties said they no longer agreed with Mr Abel Chivukuvuku’s leadership style," Mr Sebastião said, adding that "he was sacked for loss of trust and for behaving in a way that did not promote unity”.

Mr Carvalho is scheduled to be sworn-in Monday.

However, state-owned Rádio Nacional de Angola (RNA) Wednesday quoted an unnamed source close to Mr Chivukuvuku saying that he was opposed to his replacement as Casa-Ce leader.

End of the war

“He said he was still the Casa-Ce president and would Wednesday address journalists to explain his position, RNA reported.

It further quoted the source saying Mr Chivukuvuku, "will run for the country’s presidency in 2022 with or without Casa-Ce”.

Casa-Ce emerged third in Angola's 2017 General Election after garnering 9.4 percent vote.

The ruling MPLA won with 61.07 per cent, with Unita coming second with 26.7 percent vote.

The 2017 poll was Angola's fourth since independence from Portugal in 1975 and the third since the end of the war in 2002.

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