Joo Lourenço, who won reelection as Angola’s president, vowed to carry out his political commitments during his second term with courage and responsibility.
Read also: Angola’s ruling party wins, and the current president is re-elected.
The National Electoral Commission revealed the election’s results on Monday. It was the closest election in the nation’s history.
Re-elected president Joo Lourenço declared that the MPLA victory meant “a government that embraces its political commitments with courage and responsibility, an executive that is not afraid to break with the authorities in place and to implement the required adjustments.”
Having been in power since Angola’s independence in 1975, the ruling MPLA party prevailed with 51.17 percent of the vote against the major opposition UNITA party’s 43.95 percent.
With 124 of the 220 members in the chamber, the ruling party has an absolute majority. The two-thirds majority that allowed it to pass laws without the help of another party is now lost, though.
The final results were denied to be signed by a number of NEC members.
The preliminary results, which had already given the MPLA the victory, were challenged by the opposition last week.
After the final results are announced, parties have 72 hours to challenge them.
