- This event has passed.
Angola General Election
August 1, 2022
Angola Constitution stipulates the head of the party with the most seats in the National Assembly becomes President.
Will be the second General Election since dos Santos retired in 2017. He led Angola 38 years as head of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). His hand-picked successor, Joao Lourenco, seeks a second term. The MPLA has been in power since independence in 1975.
Lourenco came to power promising a crack-down on corruption and poverty. He has pushed some high-profile corruption cases, some involving dos Santos family members. The opposition claim that he has tilted things in his favour by altering Constitution to give the President more control over judicial appointments and a new law that centralizes vote counting, although he insists that elections will be ‘free and fair’. The IMF has made Lourenco remove electricity, water and transport subsidies. Has upset many.
Their long-time rival: The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), hopes to win. They have joined with two other parties to form ‘The Patriotic Front’. Unita leader: Adalberto Costa Jnr, heads the PF. Will prove attractive to urban and middle class but unlikely to win.
Angola mired in prolonged recession. Depends largely on oil exports. Price increases have helped.
Sources and further reading:
Angola: President Lourenco presents key policies of manifesto ahead of election
Africa’s Complex 2022 Elections: Restoring Democratic Processes
https://africacenter.org/spotlight/elections-2022/
