UNITA suspects state terrorism in attacks on Angolan trade union leader

The Angolan opposition UNITA today called for dialogue between the Angolan Government and higher education teachers and questioned the acts of intimidation against the class union leader, raising suspicions of “state terrorism”.

The concerns of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) were expressed in Luanda by parliamentarian Raul Tati, prime minister of the “shadow government” of Angola’s largest opposition party, who criticized the executive’s inaction in the face of the prolonged strike of higher education teachers, which began on February 27.

“It becomes incomprehensible the tomb silence of the holder of executive power before the clamor of the higher education teachers to which the voices of students have been added lately, perfectly justified with the fear of the annulment of the school year,” said Tati, pointing out the priority that should be given to education.

The politician criticized the “immobilism and inaction of the executive” before the demands of the Union of Higher Education Teachers of Angola (Sinpes), stressing that the negotiation has “systematically failed,” leading to successive stoppages.

He appealed, therefore, for dialogue with the teachers, instead of the “usual arrogance” and “intimidation” that the Government systematically resorts to.

“It is all too obvious that this cannot be the way to overcome the dispute,” said the UNITA leader, denouncing the acts of intimidation against the secretary-general of Sinpes, Eduardo Peres, through anonymous messages, assaults on his residence and attacks against his family members, all of which are “reprehensible.”

Criticizing the “undisguised refusal” of the authorities to guarantee security for the Sinpes leader and his family, Raul Tati considered that such attitude “raises suspicions that these acts are related to what can be called state terrorism.”

The prime minister of UNITA‘s “shadow government” recommended that the executive initiate reforms in higher education and provide “robust budget allocations” for salary adequacy of teachers and maintenance and construction of educational institutions, lamenting the “incalculable damage” that the paralysis of classes represents for the student population.

With information from Lusa

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