By John Ikani
Angola’s National Electoral Commission (CNE) has declared President João Lourenço and his MPLA party the winners of last week’s national elections.
According to data presented by the commission, 44.82% of the 14.4 million voters voted.
The MPLA – known as People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola – won 3,209,429 votes, or 51.17%, electing 124 deputies, and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) won 2,756,786 votes, guaranteeing 90 deputies, with 43.95% of the total.
The CNE plenary thus proclaimed the President of the Republic of Angola, João Lourenço, head of the MPLA list, the most voted party and vice-president, Esperança da Costa, second on the MPLA list.
With the declaration, Mr Lourenço will be serving his second term as president.
His MPLA party has been in government since independence in 1975, with the country ruled until 2017 by José Eduardo dos Santos, who died last month.
Unita had rejected the provisional results announced on Thursday, alleging the count had been marred by irregularities.
Leader of the opposition party, Adalberto Costa Júnior last week, kicked against the provisional results, saying they did not match the party’s own tally.
Although UNITA lost, it was the MPLA’s worst result yet. The ruling party overwhelmingly lost in Luanda, which analysts described as a “significant defeat.”
The MPLA vote is down from the 61% it gained in the previous elections in 2017, while Unita’s share is sharply up from the 27% it polled last time, fuelled by high levels of poverty and youth unemployment.
