Angolans voted on Wednesday in a tight race in which the main opposition coalition had its best-ever chance of victory, as millions of youth left out of its oil-fuelled booms were likely to express frustration with nearly five decades of MPLA rule.
Millions of youth left out of its oil-fuelled booms are expected to express frustration with nearly five decades of Marxist People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) rule.
The ruling party remains the favourite, though the margin is narrow enough for a surprise National Union for the Total Independence of Angola’s (UNITA) victory, which could shift relations with global superpowers, with possibly less friendly ties with Russia.
Since independence from Portugal in 1975, Angola has been run by the formerly MPLA, led since 2017 by President Joao Lourenco.
But an Afrobarometer survey in May showed the UNITA opposition coalition, led by Adalberto Costa Junior, increasing its share to 22 per cent, from 13 per cent in 2019.
That’s still seven points behind the MPLA, but nearly half of voters were undecided.
Many youths, under the age of 25 years making up 60 per cent of the country, are voting for the first time.