Crying and applause were heard tonight at Luanda International Airport on 4 February as the urn containing the remains of former Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos, who died in Barcelona on 8 July, arrived.
The body from Barcelona arrived in Luanda today after a favorable decision by the Spanish courts in the claims of the widow of the former head of state, who ruled Angola for 38 years, allowed the Angolan executive to bring the remains to Angola for a memorial service.
At the airport, the arrival was accompanied by dozens of national and foreign journalists, as well as dignitaries of the Angolan government, who welcomed the widow, her three children and other family members, while the older children, Chise, Coreon Do and Isabelle dos Santos, expressed regret that she could not say goodbye to your father.
The plane with the remains of José Eduardo dos Santos of the Angolan airline TAAG landed at the international airport on 4 Fevereiro at 19:16 local time (the same time in Lisbon), and after about 30 minutes the urn covered with the flag of Angola was removed from the plane.
The departure of the ballot box to the former official residence of the head of state at Miramar in Luanda was also anticipated by some militants of the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and supporters of the former president, who were flustered.
“Zedu has arrived,” exclaimed a woman in an MPLA robe, supported by a family member.
Others applauded the departure of the hearse and the retinue that accompanied the family to Miramar.
This morning, the Angolan government announced that “the remains of the former President of the Republic, José Eduardo dos Santos, who died on July 8 in Barcelona, Kingdom of Spain” will arrive in the Angolan capital this afternoon.
The note issued by the Funeral Commission also states that “the date and program of the funeral will be communicated in due course.”
MPLA spokesman Rui Falcao acknowledged this afternoon that the funeral should take place in Luanda on 28 August, his birthday.
Several members of the Angolan government were at the airport, including Ministers of Transport, Defense, State Welfare, Social Communications and Territorial Administration Marcy Lopez, who is also a representative of the Burial Commission.
José Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled Angola from 1979 to 2017, died on July 8 at the age of 79 in Barcelona, Spain, where he had spent most of his time for the past five years.
Two factions of the dos Santos family disputed in the Family Court of the Civil Court of Catalonia who would keep the body of José Eduardo dos Santos.
On the one hand, Chise dos Santos and his older brothers, who were against the transfer of the remains of the former first lady and were opposed to holding a state funeral ahead of the August 24 elections, in order to avoid political exploitation.
On the other hand, the widow Ana Paula dos Santos and her three children together with José Eduardo dos Santos, who also claimed the body and wanted it to be buried in Angola in the near future.
On Wednesday, the court decided to attribute the body to the ex-wife and authorized the transfer to Angola after it finally concluded that José Eduardo dos Santos died of natural causes.
The handover of the body of the former Angolan head of state comes as the current president, João Lourenço, who replaced Jose Eduardo dos Santos in 2017, is seeking re-election.
More than 14 million Angolans, including those living abroad, are eligible to vote on 24 August in the fifth election in Angola’s history.
The 220 members of the National Assembly of Angola are elected by two methods: 130 members are proportional to the so-called national constituency, and the remaining 90 seats are reserved for each of the 18 provinces of Angola using the d’Hondt method and in which each elects five parliamentarians.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
