Election2022: Court authorises publication of definitive results in official gazzete

 Luanda - The Constitutional Court (TC) on Thursday authorised the National Electoral Commission (CNE) to publish in the State Gazette the definitive results of the general elections of 24 August, 2022, once the electoral litigation phase is over.

The authorisation was given by the Presiding Judge of the TC, Laurinda Cardoso, during the reading of the final statement on the election litigation process triggered by UNITA and CASA-CE.

The magistrate instructed as well that the President of the Republic, the Vice-President and the Members of the Parliament should be sworn into their respective positions.

She added that after the analysys of the evidences, the Constitutional Court decided to dismiss the appeals of UNITA and CASA-CE, thus validating the definitive results of the 24 August 2022 general elections published by the CNE.

Due to the seeking of the “material truth”, the TC said it had carried out through its Data Processing Centre a "detailed and careful verification" of the evidences presented by the applicants and the CNE.

Regarding the UNITA's appeal, the TC explained that UNITA had submitted photocopies and prints of the minutes of the electoral operations of the provincial constituencies of Luanda, Zaire, Cuando Cubango, Cabinda, Huambo, Bengo, Benguela, Huila and Cuanza Sul, for recount.

Although it is not within the competence of the TC of counting the votes, the electoral truth principle led the judicial body to assess the documents submitted, states the document.

According to the Court, of the provinces which UNITA claimed more votes, the political party led by Adalberto Costa Júnior did not present any documentation for Namibe, Cunene and Lunda-Sul.

The Court reveals that it etected 1,532 non-legible photocopies and prints of minutes, 307 polling stations with non-legible numbers, 612 without visible signatures and 954 duplicate photocopies and printouts of minutes.

As a result, the Constitutional Court concluded that the evidence presented and found to be in line did not put into question the overall results of the national tabulation of votes as presented by the CNE.

UNITA wanted a correction of the number of MPs it had been allocated in Luanda, Zaire, Cuando Cubando and Namibe provinces.

CASA-CE, which did not get any MPs comparing to 16 MPs that it had from the previous legislature, demanded correction of the number of MPs for the provinces of Huambo, Benguela and  Cuanza-Norte, where it claimed to have received fewer votes than were due.

The election results, which are now validated by the court, shows the victory of the MPLA and its presidential candidate with 51,17% of the votes.

UNITA and its leader Adalberto Costa Júnior follows with 43,95%. CASA-CE led by Manuel Fernandes in the six position obtained 0,76%.

In third position, Benedito Daniel of PRS won 71,351 votes (1,14%) two deputies, taking back the third position as the third political force, thus “dislodging”  the CASA-CE coalition.

Next came the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA) led by Nimi a Nsimbi, and the newcomer Humanist Party of Angola (PHA), led by Florbela Catarina Malaquias, with two seats each.

Meanwhile, this was the fifth general election in Angola history, since 1992.