Angola’s ruling MPLA won August 23 polls by 61%

Angola’s National Electoral Commission (CNE) on Wednesday released official and final figures from the outcome of the country’s August 23 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 won the polls by 61.07% of valid votes cast.

Its candidate, Joao Lourenco, was thus declared president-elect. Lourenco – a former Defense minister, will take over from Jose Eduardo dos Santos who steps down after 38 years in charge.

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.

The final tally means the MPLA dropped some three percentage points after premilinary results put them at 64.8% of votes. At the time, the CNE said it was wrapping up results collation in other parts of the country that had to vote later following challenges encountered on August 23.