According to official results released Monday, Angola’s ruling party won legislative elections, handing outgoing President Joao Lourenco a second term.
The People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) won with 51.17 percent of the votes cast, compared to 43.95 percent for the biggest opposition party, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita), according to the National Electoral Commission at a news conference.
Adalberto Costa Junior, the leader of UNITA, has already challenged the results, claiming disparities between the commission’s count and the main opposition coalition’s own total.
He did not respond quickly to the revelation of the final results.
The statement was made a day after the funeral of Angola’s long-serving ex-ruler and MPLA stalwart, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who died in Spain in July, thus security was high in the capital Luanda.
