By John Ikani
Angola’s leading opposition party said on Thursday it filed a legal complaint challenging last week’s election results, which saw the long-ruling MPLA win by a significantly reduced majority.
A senior UNITA official, Faustino Mumbika, told the French news agency AFP that a complaint was filed with the National Electoral Commission on Thursday.
Earlier on Thursday, Artur Torres, a spokesman for the country’s Constitutional Court explained that after the commission reaches a decision, the complainant can appeal before the court.
The August 24 elections were the most hotly contested in the oil-rich country since its first multi-party vote in 1992.
Taking just more than 51 percent of the votes, the electoral commission declared the MPLA the winner — prolonging the party’s nearly five decades of uninterrupted rule and handing President Joao Lourenco a second term.
The MPLA has been the only party to govern the country since it gained independence from Portugal in 1975, but saw its poorest showing in this year’s ballot, down from its victory with 61 percent in 2017.
UNITA made significant gains, earning 43.95 percent of the vote, up from 26.67 percent in the previous election in 2017.
However, the opposition party – which achieved its best ever election result – has said the poll was marred by irregularities.
In a late-night video address on Thursday, UNITA leader Adalberto Costa Junior, 60, repeated that the former rebel movement did “not recognise the final results” from the national electoral commission.
“The MPLA did not win the election … we have been in peace for 20 years, and we now need to embrace a true democratic rule of law,” Costa Junior said in an address to the nation streamed on his Facebook page.
“We will do everything to ensure that all votes are effectively accounted for and respected,” Costa Junior said.
