LUANDA – Angola’s main opposition party said on Thursday it had filed a legal complaint questioning the integrity of last week’s elections, in which the long-ruling MPLA won, albeit with a greatly reduced majority.
“The complaint regarding the final results was filed with the (national electoral commission) today,” Faustino Mumbika, national secretary of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) was quoted by AFP.
The August 24 election was the most contested in the oil-rich country since the first multiparty election in 1992.
Results announced on Monday saw the Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) win with 51.17% of the vote and secure a second term for President Joao Lourenço, 68.
UNITA made significant gains, securing 43.95% of the vote, compared to 26.67% in the previous election in 2017.
But in a late-night video address, UNITA leader Adalberto Costa Junior, 60, reiterated that the former rebel movement does not recognize “the final results” of the national electoral commission.
“We will do everything in our power to ensure that all votes are effectively counted and respected,” he said.
The MPLA has traditionally exercised control of the electoral process, and opposition and civic groups have expressed fears of voter fraud.
Four of the 16 election commissioners disagreed with the final results and expressed doubts about the procedure.
UNITA – a former rebel movement that fought a bitter 27-year civil war against the MPLA government that ended in 2002 – disputes the outcome of the vote, saying there were discrepancies in the count.
Complaining to the electoral commission is the first step in a process that can take more than a week.
Earlier Thursday, Artur Torres, a spokesman for the country’s constitutional court, said the plaintiff could appeal to the court after the commission makes a decision.
In his video address, Costa Junior said he expected the Commission and the Constitutional Court to “really do their job”.
“We have lived in peace for twenty years and we must embrace a truly democratic and legitimate state,” he said.
The MPLA is the only party that has governed the country since its independence from Portugal in 1975. But the ruling party had its worst result this year after winning 2017 with 61% of the vote.
Voter turnout was low, with only about 45% of registered voters.
- Editor/ main report by AFP
