AFRICA/ANGOLA - Victory of the MPLA contested; Bishops call for calm

Friday, 25 August 2017 elections   bishops  

Luanda (Agenzia Fides) - Large victory of the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) in the legislative elections held on 23 August (see Fides 24/8/2017). The party, in power in Angola since independence in 1975, obtained 64% of the votes of two-thirds of the seats so far counted, according to the results published by the National Election Commission (CNE).
If these results are confirmed, MPLA will obtain the absolute majority of the 220 seats in Parliament, allowing it to elect its candidate, Defense Minister Joao Lourenco, as new Head of State,.
The two opposition parties, UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola), obtained 24% of the votes, and CASA-CE, obtained 8.5%, have contested the results presented by the Electoral Commission.
Immediately after the publication of the election results, the Bishops' Conference of Angola and Sao Tomé (CEAST) invited Angolan citizens to calm and civic sense in order to preserve peace in a Country that has suffered decades of civil war. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 25/8/2017)


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