Angola’s opposition files legal complaint over election result
Angola’s leading opposition party has filed a legal complaint challenging last week’s election results, which saw the long-ruling MPLA win by a significantly reduced majority.
READ ALSO: Angola opposition party rejects election result
The National secretary of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), Faustino Mumbika, disclosed that the complaint about the final results was filed with the (national electoral commission) today.
The August 24 elections were the most hotly contested in the oil-rich country since its first multi-party vote in 1992.
Results declared on Monday placed the Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) as the winner with 51.17 percent of the vote, securing a second term for President Joao Lourenco, 68.
UNITA made significant gains, earning 43.95 percent of the vote, up from 26.67 percent in the previous election in 2017.
But in a late-night video address, UNITA leader Adalberto Costa Junior, 60, repeated that the former rebel movement does “not recognise the final results” from the national electoral commission.
The MPLA has traditionally wielded control over the electoral process and opposition and civic groups had raised fears of vote tampering.
AFP
