Angolan general election, 1992

General elections were held in Angola on 29 and 30 September 1992 to elect a President and National Assembly, the first time multi-party elections had been held in the country. They followed the signing of the Bicesse Accord on 31 May 1991 in an attempt to end the 17-year-long civil war.^[1] Voter turnout was 91.3% for the parliamentary election and 91.2% for the presidential election.^[2]

The ruling People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) won both elections, however eight opposition parties, in particular the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), rejected the 1992 election as rigged. An official observer wrote that there was little UN supervision, that 500,000 UNITA voters were disenfranchised and that there were 100 clandestine polling stations. UNITA sent negotiators to the capital, but at the same time prepared measures to resume the civil war. As a consequence, hostilities erupted in Luanda and immediately spread to other parts of the country. Several thousand to tens of thousands of UNITA members or supporters were killed nationwide by MPLA forces in a few days, in what is known as the Halloween Massacre. War resumed immediately. ^{[3][4][5] [6]}

Results

President

According to the constitution adopted in 1992, the failure of any candidate to win more than 50% of the vote meant that a second round was required, with José Eduardo dos Santos and Jonas Savimbi as sole candidates. However, Savimbi said the election had neither been free nor fair and refused to participate in the second round.^[7] Because of the Civil War this second round never took place, and dos Santos continued as President, even without the constitutionally necessary democratic legitimation.

Candidate	Party	Votes	%
José Eduardo dos Santos	MPLA	1,953,335	49.57
Jonas Savimbi	UNITA	1,579,298	40.07
António Alberto Neto	Angolan Democratic Party	85,249	2.16
Holden Roberto	National Liberation Front	83,135	2.11
Honorato Lando	Liberal Democratic Party of Angola	75.789	1.92
Luís dos Passos	Democratic Renewal Party	58,121	1.47
Bengui Pedro João	Social Democratic Party	38,243	0.97
Simão Cacete	Front for Democracy	26,385	0.67
Daniel Chipenda	Independent	20,845	0.52
Anália de Victória Pereira	Liberal Democratic Party	11,475	0.29
Rui Pereira	Social Renewal Party	9,208	0.23
Invalid/blank votes		460,455	–
Total		4,401,339	100
Registered voters/turnout		4,828,468	91.2
Source: African Elections Database

National Assembly

A total of 12 parties won seats, with the ruling MPLA winning nearly 54% of the total votes and 129 of the 220 seats, whilst UNITA won 70 seats.

Party	Votes	%	Seats
MPLA	2,124,126	53.74	129
UNITA	1,347,636	34.10	70
National Liberation Front	94,742	2.40	5
Liberal Democratic Party	94,269	2.39	3
Social Renewal Party	89,875	2.27	6
Democratic Renewal Party	35,293	0.89	1
Democratic Angola – Coalition	34,166	0.86	1
Social Democratic Party	33,088	0.84	1
Party of the Alliance of Youth, Workers and Farmers of Angola	13,924	0.35	1
Angolan Democratic Forum	12,038	0.30	1
Democratic Party for Progress – Angolan National Alliance	10,608	0.27	1
Angolan National Democratic Party	10,281	0.26	1
National Democratic Convention of Angola	10,237	0.26	0
Social Democratic Party of Angola	10,217	0.26	0
Independent Angolan Party	9,007	0.23	0
Liberal Democratic Party of Angola	8,025	0.20	0
Democratic Party of Angola	8,014	0.20	0
Angolan Renewal Party	6,719	0.17	0
Invalid/blank votes	458,310	–	–
Total	4,410,575	100	220
Registered voters/turnout	4,828,468	91.3	–
Source: African Elections Database

References

1. Angola: The Bicesse Accords EISA
2. Nohlen, D, Krennerich, M & Thibaut, B (1999) Elections in Africa: A data handbook, pp71-74 ISBN 0-19-829645-2
3. National Society for Human Rights, Ending the Angolan Conflict, Windhoek, Namibia, July 3, 2000 (opposition parties, massacres); John Matthew, Letters, The Times, UK, November 6, 1992 (election observer); NSHR, Press Releases, September 12, 2000, May 16, 2001 (MPLA atrocities).
4. National Society for Human Rights, Ending the Angolan Conflict, Windhoek, Namibia, July 3, 2000.
5. John Matthew, Letters, The Times, UK, November 6, 1992 (election observer).
6. Angola: Resumption of the civil war EISA
7. Rothchild, Donald S., Managing Ethnic Conflict in Africa: Pressures and Incentives for Cooperation, 1997. Pages 134.