Elections in Angola
Elections in Angola take place within the framework of a multi-party democracy. The National Assembly is directly elected by voters, while the leader of the party or coalition with the most seats in the National Assembly automatically becomes President.
Electoral history
Although Angola had sent representatives to the Portuguese Parliament in the early 19th century, it was not until the 1920s that the Portuguese authorities consented to the creation of a legislative body in the territory. In 1922 a Legislative Council was established, elected by Portuguese settlers.[1] However, the council was suppressed following the 1926 coup in Portugal.
In 1955 a new Legislative Council was established, although only those officially classed as "civilised" were allowed to vote. This effectively limited the franchise to European settlers, most
Following independence in 1975, the outbreak of the
The Bicesse Accords ended the civil war in 1991 and saw the introduction of multi-party democracy. General elections were held in 1992, with the President being elected by the public for the first time. The MPLA won 129 of the 220 seats in the National Assembly, whilst UNITA emerged as the main opposition party with 70 seats. José Eduardo dos Santos of the MPLA and Jonas Savimbi of UNITA received the most votes in the first round of the presidential elections, but Savimbi claimed the election had been rigged, despite United Nations observers stating that they had been mostly free and fair.[6] He refused to participate in the runoff, and restarted the civil war.
The civil war ended in 2002 following Savimbi's death. However,
Electoral system
President
The 1992 constitution provided for the direct election of the president. However, this was abolished by the 2010 constitution, which in Article 109 states that "the individual heading the national list of the political party or coalition of political parties that receives the most votes in the general election shall be elected President of the Republic and Head of the Executive".[8]
National Assembly
The electoral system for the National Assembly is based on the electoral law passed on 1 November 1991.[9] The 220 members are elected in two ways: 90 are elected from 18 five-seat constituencies and 130 from a single nationwide constituency, both using closed list proportional representation. The D'Hondt method is used for seat allocation in the provincial constituencies and a simple quota largest remainder method is used for the nationwide constituency.[10]
Voters must be at least 18 years old and hold Angolan citizenship. They can be disqualified by having an undischarged bankruptcy or criminal conviction, being declared insane, or holding dual nationality.[9] Candidates must be at least 35 years old and hold Angolan citizenship. Members of the government, judiciary and armed forces and chairs of boards of state-owned companies are ineligible for election.[9]
Parliamentary election results
Party | Election | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1980 | 1986 | 1992 | 2008 | 2012 | 2017 | 2022[11] | |
MPLA | 229 | 173 | 129 | 191 | 175 | 150 | 124 |
UNITA | – | – | 70 | 16 | 32 | 51 | 90 |
FNLA |
– | – | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
Others | – | 117 | 16 | 10 | 11 | 18 | 4 |
Total | 229 | 289 | 220 | 220 | 220 | 220 | 220 |
Turnout | – | – | 91.35% | 87.36% | 62.77% | 76.13% | 45,65% |
References
- ^ Eric Morier-Genoud (2012) Sure Road? Nationalisms in Angola, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique, BRILL, p180
- ^ Morier-Genoud, p187
- ^ a b "Enactment of "Organic Law for the Overseas Territories". - Election of Legislative Assemblies and Consultative Councils in Overseas Territories". Keesing's Record of World Events. 19: 25948. June 1973.
- ^ Angola: 1980 Single-Party Election EISA
- ^ Angola IPU
- ^ Angolan Rebel Leader Agrees to Peace Talks : Africa: Savimbi's consent follows a major victory by his forces, who threaten the oil and diamond industries LA Times, 23 January 1993
- ^ A Region of Necessity? Regional Profile of Southern Africa Archived 2014-08-12 at the Wayback Machine Swiss Agency for Democracy and Co-operation
- ^ Last elections IPU
- ^ a b c Electoral system IPU
- ^ Articles 27.2 and 27.3 of the Electoral Law (Lei n.º 36/11 de 21 de Dezembro
- ^ "Resultados". Comissão Nacional Eleitoral (National Electoral Commission).
External links
- Angola Adam Carr's Election Archive
- Elections in Angola African Elections Database