The former minister of defense, José Lourenço is now the new leader of Angola, succeeding President José Eduardo dos Santos after a controversial victory of the ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) in the parliamentary elections.

On Wednesday, the Angolan National Electoral Commission (CNE) confirmed the overwhelming victory obtained by the MPLA credited with 61.07% of the vote in the August 23 elections. According to the final results proclaimed by the president of the CNE, the party obtained an absolute majority of 150 of the 220 parliamentary seats.

The country’s two main parties, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita) and Casa-CE, receive 26.67% and 9.54% of the votes with 51 and 16 deputies respectively. The SFN and the FNLA share the last 3 seats of the new Parliament.

According to the constitution, former Defense Minister Joao Lourenço, 63, becomes the new President of Angola, succeeding Eduardo Dos Santos as Angola’s president for thirty-eight years. His inauguration will take place on September 25th. After ten years of oil boom, Angola has suffered for three years a serious crisis, due to the drop in the prices of black gold, its main source.

By Chi Prudence Asong
Cameroon Intelligence Report