Angola ruling party wins election

By Arnaldo Vieira, LUANDA Angola

Angola’s ruling party, the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), has won the August 24 general election with 51.17 percent of the votes, handing the incumbent a second term.

“João Lourenço is declared president of the republic, while Ms Esperança da Costa is the country’s deputy president”, the National Electoral Commission (CNE) head Manuel Pereira da Silva announced Monday.

MPLA also got 124 legislators in Parliament.

According to CNE, the opposition coalition led by MPLA’s historic rival, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita), was second with 43.95 percent of the votes and 90 MPs.

The Unita-FPU (United Patriotic Front) coalition included independent candidates from other opposition parties and formations.

Other parties that contested the polls were the Social Renovation Party (PRS), which got 1.14 percent, the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA) garnered 1.06 percent, while the Humanist Party of Angola (PHA) got 1,02 percent of the votes. The three parties had each two MPs elected to Parliament.

Broad convergence for the Salvation of Angola (Casa-Ce), Angola Patriotic Alliance (APN) and Pjango got 0.76, 0.48 and 0.42 percent of the votes, respectively, Mr Silva declared.

Unita, PRS and Casa-Ce said they would contest the election results.

The vote was the tightest in Angola’s history.

The MPLA has traditionally wielded control over the electoral process and state media, and opposition and civic groups have in recent days raised fears of voter tampering.

The MPLA, a former liberation movement, has ruled Angola since independence from Portugal in 1975.

But it has seen a steady decline in support over recent elections.

Mr Lourenco, a 68-year-old former general, educated in the Soviet Union, was first elected in 2017, winning 61 percent of the vote.

Meanwhile, the US said Monday it noted the broad participation of Angolans in the August 24 elections.

“We will continue to closely follow the electoral process”, the US Department of State said in a statement adding: “We call on all parties to express themselves peacefully and to resolve any grievances in accordance with applicable legal processes under Angolan law”.

Former Mozambique president Joaquim Chissano praised the Friday poll exercise and encouraged candidates to look at the results “with serenity” and to complain through legal channels if unsatisfied.

In a joint statement with former Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, the two former heads of state, who were election observers, stressed that the vote was conducted “in a free, fair and transparent manner”.

“We can safely say that Angola is on the right path towards the consolidation of democracy,” they said in a joint statement read by Mr Chissano in Luanda.