OWN CORRESPONDENT, Luanda | Tuesday 5.30pm.
ANGOLA’S National Assembly on Tuesday opened debate on a ruling party motion to strip the “special status” accorded to discredited Unita leader Jonas Savimbi.
The ruling MPLA wants to divest Savimbi as “leader of the main opposition” with the right to a 400-strong bodyguard, for his failure to respect United Nations peace accords reached in 1994.
The parliamentary legal committee has recommended the move, concluding in a report that the leader of Unita still intends to seize power through force and has “endangered the sovereignty of the Angolan nation and state unity”.
Some opposition MPs questioned whether stripping Savimbi of his special status would convince him to abandon his military ambitions.
Relations have been severed between the Luanda government and Savimbi since early September, when a dissident “peace faction” of Unita emerged with an offer to co-operate with Luanda and UN observers in completing the stalled peace process.
The regime of President Jos Eduardo dos Santos has designated the splinter group, known as the “renewal committee”, as the “only valid interlocutor” in Unita.
Savimbi won the special status in April 1997 shortly after Unita announced its total disarmament as called for by the accords. The status gave Savimbi the right to consult with all ministers of the Government of Unity and National Reconciliation, created at the same time, with foreign diplomats and with the president, among other privileges making him a virtual vice-president.
The Unita leader has remained in his central strongholds of Andulo and Bailundo, refusing to take up offices in Luanda, citing security concerns. — AFP