Angola’s electoral commission says the ruling party of Africa’s second-largest oil producer is on track to win more than half of the votes cast in the elections, based on provisional vote counting results, despite the results. results can be disputed.
The Commission announced late on Thursday it had informed President João Lourenço’s Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) had obtained nearly 52% of the vote in Wednesday’s election, with 97%.
The National Alliance for Full Independence of Angola (Unita), the MPLA’s former rival in a civil war that lasted until 2002, won 44.5%, according to the committee. However, Unita politicians said on Thursday that they believe the party has won. Analysts say a challenge could be from the main opposition party amid the alleged fraud.
If confirmed, the result would extend the MPLA’s 47 years of rule by more than half a century since independence, but it would mark the lowest number of votes for the party that held Angola’s first multi-party elections. in 1992.
In previous elections in 2017, the MPLA reached 61%, down from 72% in 2012.
Analysts said the latest ballot was marred by irregularities such as polling stations not making their results public. However, the committee said the vote was transparent.
In a parallel vote tally led by Movimento Cívico Mudei, a civil society group, as of Thursday, Unita also had 52% and the MPLA 44%, although that involved a relatively small number of votes. .
Because the head of the largest party in the election will become president, Lourenço officially enters a second term after replacing José Eduardo dos Santos, the nation’s last strongman, in 2017.
But he faces a bigger challenge from opposition parties in parliament, where the MPLA is officially winning 124 out of 220 seats.
Lourenço has begun an anti-overspending campaign in one of the world’s most corrupt countries and secured an IMF bailout and unsustainable debt relief for an almost entirely dependent economy. into oil exports. However, many young, urban Angolans have become dissatisfied with the MPLA’s grip on public institutions and the lack of opportunities to move beyond the oil riches of the elite.
Adalberto Costa Júnior, Unita leader, campaigned on promises to diversify and decentralize the non-oil economy, such as holding Angola’s first local elections and eliminating parties from state institutions. The official provisional figures indicate that Unita has wiped out the capital Luanda.
Compared to previous polls, the election commission moved relatively quickly to release provisional results. In the 2017 election, it took two weeks to finalize the results.
