At the head of the country since 1975, the popular Liberation Movement of Angola collected 51.17 % of the votes. There is no presidential election in Angola, the head of the list of the winning party in the legislative elections is invested head of state.
Le Monde with AFP
The historic power party in Angola won the legislative elections, paving the way for a second term of outgoing president, Joao Lourenço, according to the official results announced on Monday, August 29. At the head of the country since the independence of Portugal, in 1975, the popular Liberation Movement of Angola (MPLA) collected 51.17 % of the vote, said the National Electoral Commission (CNE) at a conference press.
The first opposition party, the National Union for the total independence of Angola (UNITA), obtained 43.95 %. The training of Adalberto Costa Junior, 60, had challenged the preliminary results, which already gave the MPLA in mind. Five CNE members have also threatened not to sign the final results. Abstention reaches 55 %, which means that less than half of around 14.4 million registrants participated in the ballot. Eight parties were in the running.
In Angola, there is no presidential election: the head of the winning party in the legislative elections is automatically invested head of state. The MPLA, which won the elections in 2017 with 61 % of the votes, records its lowest score here. In 2012, he had gathered 71.84 % of the votes.
lower score for the ruling party
The MPLA retains the majority in Parliament, with one hundred and twenty-four seats out of two hundred and twenty, but loses the majority of two thirds who Until now allowed laws to be passed without the support of another party. Carried by a growing desire for “change” in a country rich in natural resources but plunged into serious economic difficulties, the opposition is stronger than ever.
With promises of reforms, fighting poverty and corruption, the charismatic opponent notably seduced youth, a growing part of the electorate. The generation born after the civil war, which ended in 2002 (five hundred thousand dead in twenty-seven years), is no longer as attached as its elders in Mpla.
The announcement of the results occurs the day after the national funeral of former president José Eduardo Dos Santos. The former head of state, who died last month in Barcelona, marked the history of the country by thirty-eight years of an authoritarian reign (1979-2017), marred by accusations of corruption and nepotism.
Thanks to laws, adopted before his departure, ensuring large judicial immunity, he was never worried by justice. But his relatives were targeted by a large anti -corruption campaign led by his successor, Mr. Lourenço. The Dos Santos clan denounced a “witch hunt”.