Elections 2022: Parties to formalise candidacies as of 6 June

Luanda – Political parties and coalitions interested in running for general elections, scheduled for August 24, are required to submit their candidacy to the Constitutional Court as of Monday (6).

Under the Law on General Elections, the presentation of candidacies takes place up to 20 days after the calling of polls.

The general elections were called on Friday (3) by the President of the Republic, João Lourenço.

Under a Presidential Decree, the date of June 3, which comes into force from next Monday, marks the official start of the submission of candidacies.

The contestants should appoint a representative, that is, a person who represents them in every operation of the electoral process.

Candidacies are presented at the Data Processing Center (CPD) of the Constitutional Court.

The centre is tasked with analysing the regularity of the process, the authenticity of documents and the eligibility of the proposed candidates.

Under the electoral legislation in force in the country, each interested political party must submit to the court the personal documentation of the head of the list and the second figure appointed for the functions of President of the Republic and Vice-President, as well as their candidates for MPs.

The documents include, application for submission of candidacy (complete details of the candidate and their declarations of commitment and acceptance), copy of the identity card and criminal record.

So far, the Constitutional Court has recognised eight political parties and a coalition of parties, which have already received subsidies to support all expenses linked to the electoral process.

They are  MPLA, UNITA, PRS, FNLA, APN, BD, P-Njango, Partido Humanista Angolano and CASA-CE (integrated by PDP-ANA, PADDA-AP, PALMA, PPA and PNSA).

Recently, the president of the Constitutional Court (TC), Laurinda Cardoso, expressed her body’s availability to begin the process of receiving candidacies from political parties.

This year Angola holds its fifth elections, a process that began in September 1992, with the first presidential and legislative elections won by MPLA, followed by UNITA.

The then leaders of the two parties, José Eduardo dos Santos (MPLA )and Jonas Savimbi (UNITA) obtained, respectively, 49 and 41 percent of the valid votes.

There was a need for a second round between the two, but, due the political and military instability that led to the post-electoral war, this did not happen.

It was only in 2008 that the country entered a regular cycle of elections, with the holding of legislative elections, also won by the MPLA.

Under the 2010 Constitution of the Republic of Angola, the first two names on the list of the party with the most votes in the election are elected President of the Republic and Vice-President.