Angola's Lourenco to be sworn in after disputed win
Wed, September 14, 2022
Angolan President Joao Lourenco is to be sworn in for a second term on Thursday amid tight security after a disputed electoral win last month.
The inauguration will be held on the historic palm tree-lined Praca da Republica square in the centre of the capital, Luanda.
Large numbers of police and military forces patrolled the streets ahead of the ceremony, AFP correspondents saw -- a presence the main opposition party said aimed at stifling dissent.
"This setup aims to intimidate citizens who want to demonstrate against the election results on the day of the inauguration of a president without legitimacy," the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) said in a statement.
Several heads of state and government, including Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, are expected to be in attendance.
Lourenco, 68, returned to power after the August 24 vote gave his Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) a thin majority, winning just 51.17 percent of the votes.
The vote was to choose members of parliament, where the largest party automatically selects the president.
It was the MPLA's poorest showing in the oil-rich African country it has controlled since independence from Portugal in 1975.
UNITA -- a former rebel movement which fought a bitter 27-year civil war against the MPLA government -- made significant gains, earning 43.95 percent of the vote, up from 26.67 percent in 2017.
Opposition parties and civic groups say the vote was marred by irregularities.
UNITA disputed the results in court but its appeal was tossed out.
"Tomorrow I will stay at home. There are too many police forces around town," Joao, a high school student who only gave his first name, said at a bus stop on the outskirts of Luanda.
- 'President for all' -
Under its charismatic leader Adalberto Costa Junior, 60, UNITA has proved popular in urban areas and among young voters clamouring for economic change.
It did particularly well in the capital, where it won a majority for the first time.
The MPLA instead lost its two-thirds parliamentary majority with its seats dropping to 124 from 150.
Lourenco struck a conciliatory tone after the vote, pledging to promote "dialogue" and be the "president of all Angolans".
But Costa Junior has said he will skip the inauguration and promised protests against the result of the vote, but has said his party will join the new parliament.
Foreign observers from other parts of Africa praised the peaceful conduct of the polls but raised concerns over press freedom and the accuracy of the electoral roll.
The former general first came to power in 2017 when he took over from long-time ruler Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who bequeathed a country deep in recession and riddled by corruption and nepotism.
Lourenco swiftly turned on his predecessor, launching an anti-graft campaign targeting his family and friends, which critics say was a political stunt.
He also embarked on an ambitious reform programme to lure foreign investors and diversify the economy.
But that has so far failed to brighten the prospects of many of Angola's 33 million people who are mired in poverty.
Dos Santos died in Spain in July. State funerals for the late strongman were held in August in the same square where Lourenco is to be sworn in.
bur-sn/ub/ri/ser
Joao Lourenco: Angola's reformist leader back in driving seatWed, September 14, 2022
Angolan President Joao Lourenco is to be sworn in for a second term on Thursday amid tight security after a disputed electoral win last month.
The inauguration will be held on the historic palm tree-lined Praca da Republica square in the centre of the capital, Luanda.
Large numbers of police and military forces patrolled the streets ahead of the ceremony, AFP correspondents saw -- a presence the main opposition party said aimed at stifling dissent.
"This setup aims to intimidate citizens who want to demonstrate against the election results on the day of the inauguration of a president without legitimacy," the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) said in a statement.
Several heads of state and government, including Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, are expected to be in attendance.
Lourenco, 68, returned to power after the August 24 vote gave his Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) a thin majority, winning just 51.17 percent of the votes.
The vote was to choose members of parliament, where the largest party automatically selects the president.
It was the MPLA's poorest showing in the oil-rich African country it has controlled since independence from Portugal in 1975.
UNITA -- a former rebel movement which fought a bitter 27-year civil war against the MPLA government -- made significant gains, earning 43.95 percent of the vote, up from 26.67 percent in 2017.
Opposition parties and civic groups say the vote was marred by irregularities.
UNITA disputed the results in court but its appeal was tossed out.
"Tomorrow I will stay at home. There are too many police forces around town," Joao, a high school student who only gave his first name, said at a bus stop on the outskirts of Luanda.
- 'President for all' -
Under its charismatic leader Adalberto Costa Junior, 60, UNITA has proved popular in urban areas and among young voters clamouring for economic change.
It did particularly well in the capital, where it won a majority for the first time.
The MPLA instead lost its two-thirds parliamentary majority with its seats dropping to 124 from 150.
Lourenco struck a conciliatory tone after the vote, pledging to promote "dialogue" and be the "president of all Angolans".
But Costa Junior has said he will skip the inauguration and promised protests against the result of the vote, but has said his party will join the new parliament.
Foreign observers from other parts of Africa praised the peaceful conduct of the polls but raised concerns over press freedom and the accuracy of the electoral roll.
The former general first came to power in 2017 when he took over from long-time ruler Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who bequeathed a country deep in recession and riddled by corruption and nepotism.
Lourenco swiftly turned on his predecessor, launching an anti-graft campaign targeting his family and friends, which critics say was a political stunt.
He also embarked on an ambitious reform programme to lure foreign investors and diversify the economy.
But that has so far failed to brighten the prospects of many of Angola's 33 million people who are mired in poverty.
Dos Santos died in Spain in July. State funerals for the late strongman were held in August in the same square where Lourenco is to be sworn in.
bur-sn/ub/ri/ser
Wed, September 14, 2022
A general who became a graft buster and turned on his political patron, Angolan President Joao Lourenco will be sworn in for a second term on Thursday but faces dwindling popularity in a country struggling with problems.
Nicknamed JLo, the 68-year-old secured a new five-year tenure in the tightest-ever vote held in the oil-rich country.
Lourenco leads the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) party, which has ruled since independence from Portugal in 1975.
In the August 24 ballot, the MPLA suffered its worst performance while its long-term rival, UNITA, surged.
Lourenco's victory was declared just 24 hours after he buried his predecessor, long-time ruler Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who died in Spain in July.
Handpicked by dos Santos, Lourenco took the helm in 2017. That year his party won with a comfortable 61 percent of the vote. This time he notched up just 51 percent.
He had promised sweeping economic reforms and a drive against graft.
But the election outcome reflected fading support for the historic ruling party, especially among young people clamouring for jobs and a better life.
- Political purgatory -
Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco was born in Lobito in western Angola.
As a young man, he fought the colonial power Portugal and then after independence took part in the civil war that erupted between the MPLA government and UNITA rebels.
Lourenco studied in the former Soviet Union, which trained many rising young African nationalists during decolonisation.
He became political chief of the armed wing of the MPLA in the civil war -- a Cold War proxy conflict that drew in Cuban forces to fight alongside the MPLA, while CIA-backed militias did battle against them.
The ex-artillery general ascended through the MPLA hierarchy, leading the party in parliament before becoming deputy speaker.
Yet his ambition almost ended his career.
Unable to hide his angling for the top job, he was sidelined by dos Santos around the turn of the century.
In 2014, he was brought back from the cold -- he was appointed defence minister and three years later eased himself into the top job.
- Anti-graft drive -
After winning the 2017 elections, Lourenco quickly turned on his predecessor, starting an anti-corruption drive to recoup the billions allegedly embezzled by dos Santos' family.
Inheriting an economy deep in recession, he launched ambitious reforms to diversify government revenue and privatise state-owned firms.
Lourenco has trumpeted his successes, but many of Angola's 33 million people still wallow in poverty.
His anti-graft push has also been criticised as selective and politically motivated, fuelling divisions within the MPLA.
Dos Santos's death worsened his woes, triggering a public spat with the veteran revolutionary leader's children -- several of whom face graft investigations.
Even so, Lourenco's change in tack from the previous regime has won praise abroad.
He has become the go-to mediator in Africa -- dealing with the crisis in the Central Africa Republic or brokering talks between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.
He is married to Ana Dias, a former planning minister who also represented Angola at the World Bank. They have six children.
bur-sn/ri/ser
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