The Angolan Constitutional Court has struck out a petition by the main opposition party, Unita, to cancel the results of last month’s general election.
What happened
The largest opposition party, Unita, petitioned Angola’s Constitutional Court to overturn the results of last month’s general election citing that the official results were different from the ones they had collated on their own.
Looking forward
The court concluded that Unita’s case did not meet the requirements for voiding the results.
Unita filed the protest last Thursday, after the electoral commission proclaimed the ruling MPLA party the election winner with 51% of the vote, giving President Joao Lourenco a second five-year term. Unita got 44% of the vote.
What you should know
The sixth multi-party election in Angola since independence was the most tightly fought to date. However, the National Electoral Commission’s (CNE) preliminary results, which gave the ruling MPLA 51% and hence victory, were challenged by UNITA, the main opposition group.