South West Africa
Lourenço and ruling party win elections in Angola
João Lourenço casting his vote at a polling station in Luanda. photo
© AP/dpa
He can continue to rule for another five years: Angola’s President João Lourenço promises, among other things, economic reforms and an end to widespread corruption.
Angola’s President João Lourenço has been confirmed in office. The ruling MPLA party won the vote in the south-west African country on Aug. 24 by 51.7 percent, the electoral commission said. The party gets 124 of the 220 seats in parliament.
The MPLA’s electoral victory automatically means a second five-year term for 68-year-old Lourenço. In the oil-rich country, whichever party wins a simple majority chooses the head of state.
The largest opposition party, Unita, with its chairman Adalberto Costa Júnior, who had been given good chances in the elections, followed with 44.5 percent and received 90 seats in parliament. When the result was announced, 97.3 percent of the votes had been counted.
Lourenço and his MPLA promise economic reforms, investments in the health sector and an end to widespread corruption. So far, the economy of the former Portuguese colony has been primarily focused on oil; however, only a small section of society benefits from the profits. According to the World Bank, a good 56 percent of the population lives in poverty.
World Bank Statistics