Activist Rafael Marques calls to end ‘Bonapartist Constitution’

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Activist Rafael Marques calls to end ‘Bonapartist Constitution’

7:54 CAT | 07 Nov 2018

File photo: Lusa

Angolan human rights activist Rafael Marques has called in Brussels on Tuesday for the need to alter Angola’s “Bonapartist Constitution” in order to achieve a real democratic constitution.

“We have a Bonapartist constitution in which the president [João Lourenço] has imperial powers, practically dictatorial and totalitarian,” Marques told Lusa.

Angola, he added, needs “strong state structures that can survive the leaders that are to regulate society’s behaviour and protect all citizens.”

Marques, who is also a journalist, took part in a debate on democracy and good governance in Brussels on Tuesday, organised by the Social & Democrats group and the European Parliament.

Marques also said it was necessary to make the most of the president’s “goodwill” and to “work together with the president, the MPLA, and all political and civic forces” to “change the course of the country.”

Lourenço became president last September, putting an end to almost four decades of José Eduardo Dos Santos’ repressive rule.

He has pledged to revive the economy and tackle corruption, as well as increasing civil liberties.

Source: Lusa