The Constitutional Court (TC) of Angola today dismissed the appeal presented by the CASA-CE coalition (Angolan opposition) regarding the final results of the elections and maintained that the vote in the coalition was insufficient to elect a deputy.
The appeal was considered in the plenary of judges and rejected by 9 of the 11 judges, with an outspoken vote of Judge Josefa Neto (elected by appointment of UNITA) which justifies the contrary position with the fact that the summary minutes concerning the insufficiency of votes for the attribution of mandates to CASA-CE.
In the declaration of vote, the judge also points out that the National Electoral Commission should publish the summary minutes “in order to dispel all suspicions around the electoral process which, as is known, are public and notorious”.
The Broad Convergence for the Salvation of Angola – Electoral Coalition (CASA-CE) lost the 16 seats it held in the National Assembly, according to the final results of the elections determined by the National Electoral Commission (CNE), but filed an appeal, claiming that the votes cast did not matched those of its parallel count, which according to the party would be sufficient to elect at least one deputy.
In judgment no. 768/2022, the TC underlines that access to this court in the context of electoral disputes depends on the submission of a prior complaint to the CNE, since “challenges that have not obeyed this rule cannot be assessed on the merits. procedure”
“In order for irregularities to be considered by this Court, it is necessary that a complaint or protest has been filed at the time they occur”, says the document.
According to the Court, “there was no prior assessment of the matters alleged by the appellant within the scope of the CNE’s discretionary powers, and they were only challenged within the scope of the present electoral dispute”.
The judges also state that, even if the legal requirement of the prior complaint had been fulfilled, CASA-CE did not include in its application “the allegations containing their respective grounds and conclusions”.
Furthermore, and with regard to the results in Huambo, Cuanza Norte and Benguela, which CASA-CE says are lower than its parallel count, the Court considered that the votes claimed in Huambo and Benguela do not have “evidential support” and that the 1,244 votes claimed in Cuanza Norte, added to the general results, “would still be insufficient to obtain a mandate in the National Assembly”.
They add that, even if the total number of votes claimed in those three provincial constituencies were met, “it would not even give rise to the attribution of a mandate in the National Assembly”, so the arguments “do not work”.
Last week, CNE president Manuel Pereira da Silva released the final tabulation minutes of the August 24 general elections, which proclaimed the MPLA and its candidate, João Lourenço, as winners with 51.17% of the votes, followed by UNITA with 43.95%.
With these results, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) elected 124 deputies and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) 90 deputies, almost double the 2017 elections.
The Social Renewal Party (PRS) was the third most voted party with 1.14% of the total, electing two deputies, followed by the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA), also with two parliamentary seats and 1.06% of votes, while CASA-CE lost all seats, not exceeding 0.76% of the votes.
The Humanist Party of Angola (PHA) will be the new political formation of the Angolan parliament, debuting with two deputies after winning a vote of 1.02%.
In addition to CASA-CE, UNITA also filed a contentious appeal with the Constitutional Court, which will announce its decision on Thursday.
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