The Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA, in power) lost a million votes in Wednesday’s elections compared to 2017, while the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) won almost a million more.
According to data from the National Electoral Commission (CNE), by counting 97.03 percent of the votes, the MPLA (in power since 1975) obtained 3,162,801 votes, one million less than in 2017, when it obtained 4,115,302. votes.
already the UNITA had a great rise, electing deputies in 17 of the 18 provinces and obtaining a historic victory in Luanda, the largest in the country, obtaining so far 2,727,885 votes while in 2017 it had 1,800,860 favorable votes.
In addition to this change in voting, there is a record for the lowest turnout. Less than 700,000 Angolans went to the polls in the general elections this Wednesday, despite the fact that the electoral universe increased by more than 55 percent, from 9.22 million to 14.4 million voters.
In 2022, with a substantially larger electoral census, there was an abstention rate of 56% when, in 2017, the date of João Lourenço’s first election, abstention was only 23.5%.
According to the CNE website, the MPLA continues with 51.07% and 124 mandates, followed by UNITA with 44.05% and 90 seats, the remaining six being elected by three small party forces. With these results, the MPLA has a qualified majority (it had 150 seats) that allowed it to individually approve the constitutional changes, by absolute majority.
In the province of Luanda, UNITA won almost twice as much as the ruling party and obtained 1.23 million votes, 500 million more than in 2017, while the MPLA, with 650,000 votes, has 360,000 fewer ballots.
In the rest of the country, UNITA elects deputies in 17 of the 18 provinces (in Cunene alone, the MPLA has five elected provincial deputies). In 2022, the black rooster party did not elect deputies in six provinces and in most cases only had one elected, against four in the MPLA.
this time, in half of the provinces the result was 3-2 in favor of the MPLA (Bengo, Benguela, Bié, Cuanza Norte, Huambo, Luanda Norte, Lunda Sul, Malanje and Uíje), which only obtained four mandates in Donde Cubango, Cuanza Sul, Huila, Moxico and Namibe.
In Cabinda, UNITA won its biggest victory in the country, winning four seats to one for the MPLA (in the 2017 elections most of the seats were already held by the opposition) and won Luanda and Zaire with three MPs.
Outside the country, whose votes count only for the national constituency, the MPLA won UNITA with 50.6 percent of the vote, but the CNE does not discriminate votes by consulate.
As for blank and invalid votes, there were a total of 173,791 cases, half that of 2017.
In the National Assembly of Angola, the Broad Convergence for the Salvation of Angola – Electoral Coalition (CASA-CE) disappears from the hemicycle after the exit of its leader, Abel Chivukuvuku, to the UNITA lists, where he was running for vice president.
In 2017, CASA-CE had won 16 mandates (with 639,789 votes) and now has only 46,750 bulletins with the cross in the party.
In the smaller parties, the Social Renovation Party (PRS) fell slightly (70,398 votes against 80,763 in 2017) and retained both seats. The National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA) rose by four thousand votes, obtaining 65,223 votes, which allowed it to rise to two seats.
The surprise among the smaller formations was the Humanist Party (PHA) of Bela Malaquias, which obtained 63,003 votes and managed to elect two mandates in its first electoral race.
Source: Observadora
