The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita), the first Angolan opposition party,“does not recognize the results (officials)“ of the legislative elections announced on August 29 and which which gave victory to the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). These final results offer a second term to outgoing President Joao Lourenço. There is no presidential election in Angola, the head of the list of the winning party in the legislative elections is therefore invested with the functions of Head of State.
Unita “will lodge an appeal” suspensive, said its secretary general, Alvaro Chikwamanga Daniel, in a video statement recorded and transmitted Tuesday, August 30 to AFP. The party led by Adalberto Costa Junior, 60, says “not having been informed of the decision” of the National Electoral Commission (CNE) to ratify the results, nor to have received “copy of the counting report”. The MPLA, which has ruled the country since independence from Portugal in 1975, won 51.17% of the vote against 43.95% for Unita, according to the commission.
Candidates have 72 hours after the announcement of the official results to file an appeal with the Constitutional Court. Four of the 16 CNE members did not sign the final results, expressing doubts about the electoral process. With the MPLA’s control over the organization of the ballot and the public media, the opposition and part of public opinion were worried about the risk of fraud following the ballot which was held on 24 August. Foreign observers last week reported “concerns” in particular with regard to the electoral lists.
The European Union and the United States urged the Angolan electoral authorities to respond to the complaints “fairly and transparently”. Less than half of the approximately 14.4 million registered voters took part in the vote, where eight parties were in the running. “Citizens do not have the impression that change can come from the ballot box”, explains Marisa Lourenço, an independent political analyst based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
At his party’s headquarters in Luanda, after the proclamation of the results, Angolan President Joao Lourenço welcomed“a victory for Angola and the Angolans”. He also promised “dialogue and consultation” for his second term. The MPLA, which recorded its lowest score (61% in 2017) after the tightest ballot in the country’s history, retained an absolute majority in Parliament with 124 seats out of 220. But it lost the majority of the two third party which has so far allowed him to pass laws without the support of another party.
With promises to reform and eradicate poverty and corruption, the opposition has won over connected urban youth, particularly in the capital’s constituency where it won 62.25% of the vote.
Unita had already contested the results of the elections in 2017. But the victory of the MPLA and Joao Lourenço, then designated successor to former President José Eduardo dos Santos, had been confirmed. Accused of having taken control of whole sections of the economy and in particular the oil windfall, dos Santos died in July in Barcelona, Spain. A state funeral was held in Luanda, the Angolan capital, the day before the election results were announced. The former Angolan leader was never worried, but his relatives were targeted by a vast anti-corruption operation launched by his successor.