Lourenço’s ruling MPLA declared winner of Angola’s elections

Luanda, Aug 29 (EFE).- The People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola, the party of incumbent president João Lourenço, has been declared victor of the African nation’s recent elections with 51.17% of the votes, the electoral commission (CNE) said Monday.

The MPLA garnered 3.2 million votes, which equates to 124 of the 220 seats in parliament, the president of the CNE, Manuel Pereira da Silva, said in Luanda.

The main opposition party, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), led by Adalberto Costa Júnior, came in second with 43.93% of the vote although last week rejected the preliminary results that were published.

Angola’s constitution stipulates that the leader of the party that wins the most votes automatically becomes president.

The result, once ratified by the constitutional court, will grant Lourenço a second consecutive five-year term and consolidate the hegemony of the MPLA, which has governed Angola since its independence from Portugal in 1975.

It remains to be seen whether the opposition will file an appeal against the results, like it did in 2017 without success. EFE

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