Angola held the most contested election in its history on August 24. In this southern African country, there is no presidential election and the head of the list of the winning party in the legislative elections automatically becomes head of state.
The Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), in power since independence from Portugal in 1975, won the elections with 51.17% of the vote, the lowest score it has ever recorded.
The first opposition party, the National Union for Independence (Unita), won 43.95% of the vote.
Mr. Lourenço, 68, is due to take the oath during an official ceremony in Republic Square, a historic site in the capital where the state funeral of his former mentor and former strongman of the country with a controversial heritage, the former President José Eduardo dos Santos, were organized in the middle of an election week.
Several heads of state and government are expected at the investiture, including Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
On the eve of the ceremony, Adalberto Costa Junior, the leader of Unita, indicated that his party would accept that its parliamentarians be invested on Thursday, after having long refused to recognize the results of the elections, according to him marred by “irregularities”. .
Unita challenged these results in court, but its appeal was rejected at the beginning of the month, the constitutional court considering that there was no evidence to call them into question.
– “Too many police” –
The streets of Luanda were placed under heavy police surveillance on Thursday, an AFP correspondent noted. Unita accused the security forces deployed “across the country and equipped with heavy weapons” of seeking to “intimidate citizens who intend to demonstrate” on the day of the inauguration “of a president without legitimacy”.
“I will stay at home tomorrow, there are too many policemen in the city,” Joao, a high school student from the suburbs of Luanda, who gave only his first name, told AFP.
Rights groups have also questioned the fairness of the ballot. Four of the 16 members of the Electoral Commission refused to sign the final results. Foreign observers from Africa have expressed “concerns” regarding the electoral lists in particular.
Unita have repeatedly claimed to have won, by their own count. Led by the charismatic Adalberto Costa Junior, 60, the opposition has gained ground on promises of reform, the fight against poverty and corruption. In particular, it attracted connected urban youth and won the constituency of Luanda.
Rich in natural resources, Angola is one of the poorest and most unequal countries in the world. The oil windfall has only enriched an elite close to dos Santos and half of the 33 million Angolans live below the poverty line.
Mr. Lourenço had surprised once elected by dismissing many leaders of institutions and companies as well as heads of the security apparatus, targeting those close to dos Santos and in particular his daughter Isabel, nicknamed “the princess”.
Many consider, however, that this campaign was selective and politically motivated. The dos Santos clan denounced a “witch hunt”.
The opposition had already contested, without winning, the results of the elections in 2017.
When the victory was announced, Mr. Lourenco promised “dialogue and consultation” for his second term. The MPLA lost the two-thirds majority in parliament, which has so far allowed it to pass laws without the support of another party, with 124 seats out of 220.
