LUANDA, Angola
Angolan President Joao
Lourenco is to be sworn in for a second term on Thursday amid tight security
after a disputed electoral win last month.
The inauguration will be held
on the historic palm tree-lined Praca da Republica square in the centre of the
capital, Luanda.
Large numbers of police and
military forces patrolled the streets ahead of the ceremony, AFP correspondents
saw -- a presence the main opposition party said aimed at stifling dissent.
"This setup aims to
intimidate citizens who want to demonstrate against the election results on the
day of the inauguration of a president without legitimacy," the National
Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) said in a statement.
Several heads of state and
government, including Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, are
expected to be in attendance.
Lourenco, 68, returned to
power after the August 24 vote gave his Popular Movement for the Liberation of
Angola (MPLA) a thin majority, winning just 51.17 percent of the votes.
The vote was to choose members
of parliament, where the largest party automatically selects the president.
It was the MPLA's poorest
showing in the oil-rich African country it has controlled since independence
from Portugal in 1975.
UNITA -- a former rebel
movement which fought a bitter 27-year civil war against the MPLA government --
made significant gains, earning 43.95 percent of the vote, up from 26.67
percent in 2017.
Opposition parties and civic
groups say the vote was marred by irregularities.
UNITA disputed the results in
court but its appeal was tossed out.
"Tomorrow I will stay at
home. There are too many police forces around town," Joao, a high school
student who only gave his first name, said at a bus stop on the outskirts of
Luanda.
Under its charismatic leader
Adalberto Costa Junior, 60, UNITA has proved popular in urban areas and among
young voters clamouring for economic change.
It did particularly well in
the capital, where it won a majority for the first time.
The MPLA instead lost its
two-thirds parliamentary majority with its seats dropping to 124 from 150.
Lourenco struck a conciliatory
tone after the vote, pledging to promote "dialogue" and be the
"president of all Angolans".
But Costa Junior has said he
will skip the inauguration and promised protests against the result of the
vote, but has said his party will join the new parliament.
Foreign observers from other
parts of Africa praised the peaceful conduct of the polls but raised concerns
over press freedom and the accuracy of the electoral roll.
The former general first came
to power in 2017 when he took over from long-time ruler Jose Eduardo dos
Santos, who bequeathed a country deep in recession and riddled by corruption
and nepotism.
Lourenco swiftly turned on his
predecessor, launching an anti-graft campaign targeting his family and friends,
which critics say was a political stunt.
He also embarked on an
ambitious reform programme to lure foreign investors and diversify the economy.
But that has so far failed to
brighten the prospects of many of Angola's 33 million people who are mired in
poverty.
Dos Santos died in Spain in July.
State funerals for the late strongman were held in August in the same square
where Lourenco is to be sworn in. - Africa
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