Angolan president sworn in amid accusations of election fraud

(Adds Lourenço’s comments and details of the ceremony)

Luanda, September 15 (EFE). – Angola’s president, Joao Lourenço, was sworn in on Thursday for a second five-year term after winning the August 24 elections, in a colorful ceremony and backed by the international community despite allegations of electoral fraud by the opposition.

“I, João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, upon assuming my position as President of the Republic, swear with honor to carry out the tasks entrusted to me with dedication,” said MPLA leader and president. From the country since 2017, during his section in the center of the Plaza de la Republica in Luanda.

Lourenço received the Presidential Badge and Medal from the President of the Constitutional Court, Lorenda Cardoso.

After the oath was taken, the ten thousand people who thronged Republic Square applauded, chanting the last name of the Angolan president.

“It is on my honor to respect the constitution and the law, to be president of all Angolans and to govern the country’s economic and social development and the well-being of all Angolans,” the head of state emphasized.

And the President of the Constitutional Court warned in her speech that “the elections are not a blank check from the voters for the winner.”

“Be the president of all of us,” Cardoso asked the president.

During the ceremony, the new Vice President of Angola, Esperanca Costa, was also sworn in, becoming the first woman in the country to hold this position.

The ceremony was attended by the heads of state and government of Equatorial Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde, the Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville), Zimbabwe, Namibia, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic and Sao Tome and Principe. and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.

Cuba was represented by its Vice President, Salvador Valdes Mesa. The government of Venezuela sent its Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlos Faria; Nicaragua sent its advisory minister and presidential delegate to Africa, Mohamed Farrara Lachtar.

Spain confirmed its participation in the ceremony with the help of Senate President Ander Gil.

“Spain considers Angola a priority country in its foreign policy towards Africa,” said the Spanish ambassador to Angola, Manuel Legareta, on his account on the social networking site Twitter.

The ceremony was also attended by the President of Portugal – the former Angolan capital – Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (Secretariat) Moussa Faki Mahamat.

Similarly, the United States sent a presidential delegation and China sent its own representative of the Chinese government for African affairs, Liu Yuxi.

The Constitutional Court ratified the election results on the eighth, thus rejecting an appeal by the main opposition party, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), which is believed to have won the election and did not turn up today. Lourenço’s installation.

UNITA, which insists on rejecting the election results, filed this Tuesday before the Constitutional Court an exceptional appeal against the unconstitutionality of its decision to reject its appeal in the general elections.

In addition, he called on Angolans to protest the results of the vote.

In recent days, the Angolans have been able to observe a large police presence on the streets of Luanda and other cities in the country, as well as many soldiers, a fact denounced by UNITA as an attempt to intimidate the citizens.

According to the electoral authorities, the MPLA, the only party that has ruled Angola since its independence from Portugal in 1975, won the August 24 elections with 51.17% of the vote, winning 124 of 220 seats in the National Assembly.

UNITA, led by Adalberto Costa Jr., came second with 43.93%, equal to 90 seats, the best result in its history.

According to Costa Jr., the vote count data in his possession does not match that approved by the NEC. EFE

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