Angola’s president, Lourenco, re-elected for another 5-year term
According to official results released on Monday, Angola’s ruling party won the presidential elections, giving Joao Lourenco, a five-year second term.
The People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) won with 51.17 percent of the vote cast, defeating the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita), which came in second with 43.95 percent, according to the National Electoral Commission, which announced the results at a press conference.
Its vote share decreased from the 61% it received in the 2017 election, although Unita’s vote share increased significantly from 27%.
Adalberto Costa Jnr, the leader of Unita, rejected the preliminary results last week, claiming they did not correspond to the party’s own tally.
Despite the nation’s abundance in minerals and oil, around half of the population subsists on less than $2 per day.
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Since Portugal ceded its territory to the MPLA in 1975, the MPLA has been in charge. It has come under fire for the severity of the unemployment and poverty rates.
Up until 2002, it engaged in a protracted civil war with Unita, but the 20 years of peace have not produced the advancements that many had hoped for.
Mr. Lourenço served his first term in office as president, after long serving president José Eduardo dos Santos resigned in 2017.
However, Dos Santos passed away in Spain last month at the age of 79, and a funeral was held for him in Angola on Sunday.
Source: News agencies
Abeeb Lekan Sodiq is a Managing Editor & Writer at theafricandream.net. He is as well a Graphics Designer and also known as Arakunrin Lekan.
