Elections2022: Constitutional Court checks complaints filed by UNITA, CASA-CE

 Luanda - The Constitutional Court (TC) started Friday checking the complaints filed by UNITA and CASA-CE on the results of the August 24 general elections won by the MPLA.

This was confirmed at a press conference on Friday in Luanda meant to clarify on the steps to be taken by the judicial body after having received the requests from the two political parties which participated in the 24 August elections.

The verification process is underway to confirm the legitimacy of the appellants, the Court’s competence and the observance of the legal deadlines, the director of the Technical Advisory and Jurisprudence Office of TC, Aida Gonçalves, told a press conference.

She also said that, in the formal verification, the requests must contain the reasons of fact and of law, before presenting the conclusions and formulating the request to be considered by the judicial body.

Upon admission, the Court will immediately notify the National Electoral Commission (CNE) to present its counter-allegations, within 72 hours, with the same elements required in the applicants' requests, she added.

In turn, the director of the Office for Political Parties of the TC, Mauro Alexandre, explained that neither of the two processes that were filed refers to the annulment of the elections.

As for the deadline and the counting of votes, Mauro Alexandre stated that this operation is not a "genuine competence" of the Constitutional Court but of the CNE.

He said that the Constitutional Court may, in honour of the principle of electoral truth and in an exceptional situation, carry out an eventual recount based on the summary minutes presented by the competing parties  in the contentious appeal.

He made clear that the deadlines of the electoral process are continuous, without any interruption.

On Thursday, the Constitutional Court received two appeals from the UNITA party and the CASA-CE coalition, competing for the general elections of last August 24, initiating an electoral dispute.