“The game is over, now it’s time to govern.” This is how the MPLA spokesman, Rui Falcão, tried to put an end to the discussion about the legitimacy of the results of the Angolan elections, which gave victory to João Lourenço’s party with 51% of the votes – but which are contested by the majority opposition party, UNITA, which obtained 44%.
The tension is still felt in the capital, Luanda, where UNITA won for the first time, and can be accentuated since the leader of the largest opposition party, Adalberto da Costa Júnior, said this Friday afternoon that “the MPLA does not win the elections”, affirmed that the data of the National Elections Commission (CNE) do not coincide with the alternative count of UNITA and requested an investigation by an independent international commission.
Even in the victory scenario indicated by the official results of the CNE, it is already possible to detect trends that point to a fall of the MPLA, especially in the big cities. the biggest surprises were the provinces of Cabinda and Zaireconquered by UNITA, and the fact that the MPLA failed to maintain a qualified majority in the National Assembly.
The Observer contacted some specialists in Angolan politics to analyze these data from the CNE and all of them, even before Adalberto Costa Júnior’s press conference, He began by making the reservation that the credibility of these results is still uncertain.. Justin Pearce, a Cambridge academic, was the most emphatic: “There are plausible accusations of fraud and, until they are investigated and verified, we cannot accept these results as credible.”
This article is exclusive to our subscribers: subscribe now and benefit from unlimited reading and other benefits. If you are already a subscriber, log in here. If you think this message is an error, please contact our customer service.
Source: Observadora
