THE AFRICAN COURIER. Reporting Africa and its Diaspora! The African Courier is an international magazine published in Germany to report on Africa and the Diaspora African experience. The first issue of the bimonthly magazine appeared on the newsstands on 15 February 1998. The African Courier is a communication forum for European-African political, economic and cultural exchanges, and a voice for Africa in Europe.
Angola’s election body has released the final results of the 23 August polls. The ruling MPLA won by 61% picking 150 seats in the 220-seat parliament. Joao Lourenco was also declared president-elect.
Angola’s National Electoral Commission (CNE) on Wednesday released official and final results of the country’s 23 August polls confirming that the governing MPLA won by over 61%.
The official declaration in the capital, Luanda, was delivered by CNE boss, Andre da Silva Neto, who declared that the MPLA, which has ruled the country since its independence from Portugal in 1975, won the polls by 61.07% of valid votes cast.
Its candidate, former defence minister, Joao Lourenco, was also declared president-elect. He takes over from long-serving Jose Eduardo dos Santos – who served as president for 38 years.
The announcement comes despite an opposition coalition communication CNE calling for a recount of votes failure to which they threatened court action. With MPLA’s figures, the five opposition parties account for the remaining 39% of votes.
Six political parties took part in the polls. They include the ruling MPLA led by Joao Lourenco, main opposition UNITA led by Isaias Samakuva, CASA-CE, FNLA, PRS, APN. The polls were largely said to have been held smoothly and without incident across the country. The CNE has described the vote as one that met international standards.
This will be the composition of the next Angola parliament:
MPLA – 150 MPs
UNITA – 51 MPs
CASA-CE – 16 MPs
OTHERS – 3 MPs
Adira Kallo
