Angola's Woes - Part XV

Continued from Part XIV

The Turbulent 90s

Angola's first multi-party and parliamentary elections were held on September 29-30, 1992 despite formidable problems. About 91% of the country's 4.82 million registered voters cast their ballots to elect representatives to a four-year term in parliament and a new president who would hold office for five years. Eleven candidates stood for president while 17 parties and one coalition group vied for 220 seats in the national assembly.

When the ballots were counted, President dos Santos had won 49.57% of the votes, just short of the 50% needed to avoid a run-of election. Savimbi had 40.07 % of the votes. The MPLA won the parliamentary elections with 53.74 % of the votes while UNITA received 34.10%. The election gave the MPLA an absolute majority of 129 seats in the national assembly. UNITA won 70 seats. Ten other parties shared the remaining 21 seats. UNITA's support came from the Ovimbundu heartland in central Angola.

The United Nations declared the elections generally free and fair on October 17, 1992. However, UNITA claimed there had been widespread fraud and accused the government of "stealing" the elections. Savimbi pulled his generals out of what was supposed to be the country's new unified armed forces. He mobilized his troops and began a military offensive throughout the country. Although government forces successfully expelled UNITA from Luanda and the provincial capitals in the next few months, Savimbi's troops took control over large sections of the countryside.

To be continued...