National Assembly: 5 & 6 September 2008

Description of Electoral System:

The President of the Republic, who is Head of State and Government, is directly elected by an absolute majority in a secret, universal, adult ballot. The president is eligible for election for two five year terms.

Angola has a unicameral parliament with a four year term. The National Assembly (Assembleia Nacional) has 223 seats elected by proportional representation; 130 members are elected from national lists, 3 members by Angolans living abroad and the 18 provinces each elect 5 members.

Electoral Systems Snapshot

(Courtesy of International IDEA)

*Click on links for definitions

WANT MORE ELECTION RELATED STATS FOR ANGOLA? Go to "election databases" on the left-hand menu of this page OR comparative data on the right-hand menu and choose your area of interest.

Politics of Angola

Angolan independence from Portugal was the result of a protracted civil war (1961-1974) fought by four competing armed political movements; the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC) and National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA).

The Portuguese government came to agreement with the three main parties (MPLA, FNLA, UNITA) to establish a joint transitional government in January 1975 in preparation for independence and elections. This never materialized, the Portuguese withdrew, and the country was plunged into civil war with the various sides supported by Cold War foreign backers. 

The end of the Cold War led to a negotiated settlement between the parties and elections for the Presidency and National Assembly were held. When it became evident to UNITA that the MPLA would win the elections, they returned to civil war, which continued until the death in battle of UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi in February 2002. On 4 April 2002 the Luena Memorandum of Understanding, was signed and by August UNITA had disbanded its military wing.

Previous election

In the 1992 National Assembly election the MPLA, led by José dos Santos won the election with 53.74% of the vote, while Jonas Savimbi's UNITA obtained 34.10%; the FNLA under Holden Roberto finished third with 2.40% and the balance went to 15 other parties (For more detail see Elections 1992: National Assembly results).

In the presidential election dos Santos won 49.57% of the vote with Savimbi obtaining 40.07 and 9 other candidates shared the balance. Voter turnout was 91% (For more detail see 1992 election presidential results). According to the Angolan Constitution, since dos Santos did not obtain an absolute majority, the two leading candidates should have faced one another in a second round. This did not occur because Savimbi rejected the results as fraudulent and the civil war resumed.

Next election

DID YOU KNOW? Current President José Eduardo dos Santos has ruled Angola since 1979

In 2004 it was announced that elections for the National Assembly and president would be held in 2006. Electoral laws to govern the process were adopted and a National Electoral Commission (CNE) was created to manage the process.

However elections were postponed to 2007 and then again to 2008 for the National Assembly election and 2009 for the presidential election.

Voter registration began 15 November 2006 and was scheduled to end on 15 June 2007, but was extended by 90 days to 13 September 2007.