Angola’s historic ruling party has won the legislative elections, paving the way for a second term for incumbent President Joao Lourenço, according to official results announced on Monday (August 29th). At the head of the country since independence from Portugal in 1975, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) won 51.17% of the vote, the National Electoral Commission (CNE) told a conference Press.
The first opposition party, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita), obtains 43.95%. “The CNE proclaims Joao Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço President of the Republic”said its president, Manuel Pereira da Silva.
Several members of the CNE did not sign the final results. The opposition disputed, last week, the preliminary results which already gave the MPLA the winner. Unita, which claims to have carried out its own count, claims to have obtained more votes. The parties have seventy-two hours, after the announcement of the results, to seize the Constitutional Court.
Less than half of registered voters cast ballots
With the control of the party in power on the electoral process and the public media, the opposition and part of public opinion had mentioned the risk of fraud before the election. Observers from the African Union and the Southern African Development Community last week expressed their “concerns”in particular with regard to the electoral lists. Abstention reached 55%, which means that less than half of the approximately 14.4 million registered voters took part in the ballot. Eight parties were in contention.
In Angola, there is no presidential election: the head of the list of the winning party in the legislative elections is automatically invested as head of state. The MPLA, which won the elections in 2017 with 61% of the vote, recorded its lowest score here. In 2012, he collected 71.84% of the votes.
The MPLA retains the majority in Parliament, with 124 seats out of 220, but loses the two-thirds majority which until now allowed it to pass laws without the support of another party. Driven by a growing desire to ” change “ in a country rich in natural resources but plunged into serious economic difficulties, the opposition is stronger than ever.
Lowest score for ruling party
With promises of reform, the fight against poverty and against corruption, the charismatic opponent has particularly won over young people, a growing part of the electorate. The generation born after the civil war, which ended in 2002 (five hundred thousand deaths in twenty-seven years), is no longer as attached to the MPLA as its elders.
The announcement of the results comes the day after the state funeral of former President José Eduardo dos Santos. The former head of state, who died last month in Barcelona, marked the country’s history with thirty-eight years of authoritarian rule (1979-2017), marred by accusations of corruption and nepotism.
Thanks to laws, adopted before his departure, guaranteeing him broad legal immunity, he was never bothered by the courts. But his relatives have been targeted by a vast anti-corruption campaign led by his successor, Mr. Lourenço. The dos Santos clan denounced a ” witch hunt “.