View source for Elections in Angola

{{Short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
{{Politics of Angola}}

'''Elections in Angola''' take place within the framework of a multi-party democracy. The [[National Assembly (Angola)|National Assembly]] is directly elected by voters, while the leader of the party or coalition with the most seats in the National Assembly automatically becomes President.

==Latest election==
{{Election results
|image=[[File:National Assembly of Angola (2022-).svg]]
|dsv=y|candtitle=Presidential candidate|
|party1=MPLA|votes1=3209429|seats1=124|cand1=João Lourenço
|party2=UNITA|votes2=2756786|seats2=90|cand2=Adalberto Costa Júnior
|party3=Social Renewal Party (Angola)|Social Renewal Party|votes3=71351|seats3=2|cand3=Benedito Daniel
|party4=National Liberation Front of Angola|votes4=66337|seats4=2|cand4=Ngola Kabangu
|party5=Humanist Party of Angola|votes5=63749|seats5=2|cand5=Florbela Malaquias
|party6=CASA–CE|votes6=47446|seats6=0|cand6=Manuel Fernandes
|party7=National Patriotic Alliance|votes7=30139|seats7=0|color7=#32cd32|cand7=Quintino Moreira 
|party8=Nationalist Party for Justice in Angola|votes8=26867|seats8=0|cand8=Dinho Chingunji
}}

==Electoral history==
Although Angola had sent representatives to the [[Assembly of the Republic (Portugal)|Portuguese Parliament]] in the early 19th century, it was not until the 1920s that the Portuguese authorities consented to the creation of a legislative body in the territory. In 1922 a Legislative Council was established, elected by [[Portuguese Angolans|Portuguese settlers]].<ref>Eric Morier-Genoud (2012) ''Sure Road? Nationalisms in Angola, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique'', BRILL, p180</ref> However, the council was suppressed following the [[28 May 1926 coup d'état|1926 coup]] in Portugal.

In 1955 a new Legislative Council was established, although only those officially classed as "civilised" were allowed to vote. This effectively limited the franchise to European settlers, most [[mulatto]]s and a small number of Europeanised Africans (''[[Assimilados]]'').<ref>Morier-Genoud, p187</ref> In May 1972 the Portuguese parliament passed the Organic Law for the Overseas Territories, which provided for greater autonomy for overseas territories; this created a 53-member Legislative Assembly for Angola, of which 32 would be elected, with the remainder nominated by public services, religious groups and business groups.<ref name=K>{{cite journal|title=Enactment of "Organic Law for the Overseas Territories". - Election of Legislative Assemblies and Consultative Councils in Overseas Territories.|journal=Keesing's Record of World Events|date=June 1973|volume=19|pages=25948|url=http://www.keesings.com|url-access=subscription }}</ref> [[1973 Portuguese Angolan Legislative Assembly election|Elections]] were held in March 1973, but due to continued restrictions on suffrage, only 584,000 people registered to vote out of a total population of 5,673,046. Around 86% of those registered cast votes, and the elected members included 29 Europeans and 24 Africans.<ref name=K/>

Following independence in 1975, the outbreak of the [[Angolan Civil War]] delayed the country's first post-independence elections until 1980. By then, the MPLA had created a one-party state. It organised [[1980 Angolan legislative election|indirect elections]], in which voters elected carefully vetted candidates to electoral colleges, who in turn elected the National Assembly.<ref>[https://www.eisa.org.za/wep/ang1980election.htm Angola: 1980 Single-Party Election] EISA</ref> The [[1986 Angolan legislative election|next elections]] were due to be held in 1983, but they were delayed until 1986 due to the ongoing war.<ref>[http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/ANGOLA_1986_E_1.PDF Angola] IPU</ref> When they were held, it was under the same indirect system.

The [[Bicesse Accords]] ended the civil war in 1991 and saw the introduction of multi-party democracy. [[1992 Angolan general election|General elections]] were held in 1992, with the President being elected by the public for the first time. The MPLA won 129 of the 220 seats in the [[National Assembly (Angola)|National Assembly]], whilst [[UNITA]] emerged as the main opposition party with 70 seats. [[José Eduardo dos Santos]] of the MPLA and [[Jonas Savimbi]] of UNITA received the most votes in the first round of the presidential elections, but Savimbi claimed the election had been rigged, despite [[United Nations]] observers stating that they had been mostly free and fair.<ref>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-01-23-mn-1606-story.html Angolan Rebel Leader Agrees to Peace Talks : Africa: Savimbi's consent follows a major victory by his forces, who threaten the oil and diamond industries] LA Times, 23 January 1993</ref> He refused to participate in the runoff, and restarted the civil war.

The civil war ended in 2002 following Savimbi's death. However, [[2008 Angolan legislative election|elections]] were delayed until 2008. The MPLA received over 80% of the vote, winning 191 of the 220 seats in the National Assembly. Presidential elections were scheduled for 2009,<ref>[https://www.swiss-cooperation.admin.ch/southernafric/ressources/resource_en_176980.pdf A Region of Necessity? Regional Profile of Southern Africa] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812211255/https://www.swiss-cooperation.admin.ch/southernafric/ressources/resource_en_176980.pdf |date=2014-08-12 }} Swiss Agency for Democracy and Co-operation</ref> but a new constitution promulgated in 2010 scrapped direct elections for the presidency, with the leader of the largest party in the National Assembly automatically becoming president. The [[2012 Angolan legislative election|next elections]] in 2012 saw another landslide victory for the MPLA, although their vote share was reduced to 72% and they lost 16 seats.

==Electoral system==

===President===
The 1992 constitution provided for the direct election of the president. However, this was abolished by the [[Constitution of Angola|2010 constitution]], which in Article 109 states that "the individual heading the national list of the political party or coalition of political parties that receives the most votes in the general election shall be elected President of the Republic and Head of the Executive".<ref>[http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/2007_E.htm Last elections] IPU</ref>

===National Assembly===
The electoral system for the National Assembly is based on the electoral law passed on 1 November 1991.<ref name=IPU>[http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/2007_B.htm Electoral system] IPU</ref> The 220 members are elected in two ways: 90 are elected from 18 five-seat constituencies and 130 from a single nationwide constituency, both using [[closed list]] [[proportional representation]]. The [[D'Hondt method]] is used for seat allocation in the provincial constituencies and a simple quota [[largest remainder method]] is used for the nationwide constituency.<ref>Articles 27.2 and 27.3 of the Electoral Law ([http://aceproject.org/ero-en/regions/africa/AO/angola-lei-organica-n.o-18-12-de-23-de-maio-de Lei n.º 36/11 de 21 de Dezembro]</ref>

Voters and candidates must be at least 18 years old and hold Angolan citizenship.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Angola 2010 Constitution - Constitute |url=https://constituteproject.org/constitution/Angola_2010?lang=en |access-date=2025-04-22 |website=www.constituteproject.org |language=en}}</ref> They can be disqualified by having an undischarged bankruptcy or criminal conviction, being declared insane, or holding dual nationality. Members of the government, judiciary and armed forces and chairs of boards of state-owned companies are ineligible for election.<ref name=IPU/>

==Parliamentary election results==
{| class=wikitable style=text-align:right
!rowspan=2|Party
!colspan=7|Election
|-
![[1980 Angolan parliamentary election|1980]]
![[1986 Angolan parliamentary election|1986]]
![[1992 Angolan general election|1992]]
![[2008 Angolan parliamentary election|2008]]
![[2012 Angolan general election|2012]]
![[2017 Angolan general election|2017]]
![[2022 Angolan general election|2022]]
|-
|align=left|[[MPLA]]||229||173||129||191||175||150||124
|-
|align=left|[[UNITA]]||–||–||70||16||32||51||90
|-
|align=left|[[National Front for the Liberation of Angola|FNLA]]||–||– ||5||3||2||1||2
|-
|align=left|Others||–||116||16||10||11||18||4
|-
|align=left|'''Total'''||'''229'''||'''289'''||'''220'''||'''220'''||'''220'''||'''220'''||'''220'''
|-
|align=left|Turnout||–||–||91.35%||87.36%||62.77%||76.13%||45.65%
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/angola/ Angola] Adam Carr's Election Archive
*[http://africanelections.tripod.com/ao.html Elections in Angola] African Elections Database

{{Angolan elections|state=expanded}}
{{Africa in topic|Elections in}}
{{Angola topics}}

[[Category:Elections in Angola| ]]