Angola Elections: Ruling MPLA party looks to extend its 50-year rule further

• Angola’s ruling MPLA looks set to extend its nearly 50-year rule.
• Unita claimed it may fight the results because they don’t match reality.
• It’s Joo Lourenço’s second five-year term as president of the oil-rich country.

Angola Elections: Angola’s ruling MPLA party appears poised to extend its nearly 50-year rule, fending off a challenge from its erstwhile civil war foe, Unita.

With more than 97% of ballots counted in Wednesday’s election, the MPLA was polling at approximately 51% against Unita’s 44%, according to electoral officials.

This grants Joo Lourenco a second five-year term as president.

Unita previously stated that it was considering appealing the results since they were inconsistent with reality.

Senior Unita member Anastacio Ruben Sicato was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying, “We hope there can be common sense, we are not encouraging a rebellion, the process is not over, we must remain calm.”

Since the country’s independence in 1975, Wednesday’s election had been hailed as its most contentious.

The Israel Campos in Angola’s capital, Luanda, reports that despite the country’s richness in oil and commodities like diamonds, many people have not benefited.

And while the 20 years of peace following a protracted civil war have been wonderful, he believes they have not produced the gains many had hoped for.

According to official data, Angola’s unemployment rate is approximately 30%, however, it is 60% among youth.

The MPLA has ruled Angola since the country’s independence.

Mr. Lourenco ascended to power in 2017 following the resignation of longtime leader José Eduardo dos Santos.

Some members of the Dos Santos family have been sent to prison as a result of his anti-corruption initiative.

Dos Santos died in Spain last month, and his body was returned to Brazil last weekend.

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