There is no separate election for the president, either by voters or by the legislature. Under the 2010 constitution, the head of the national list of the political party that receives the most votes in legislative elections automatically becomes president without parliamentary confirmation. The constitution permits the president to unilaterally appoint and dismiss the vice president, cabinet, and provincial governors, among other important powers. The president may serve up to two five-year terms.

Intraparty procedures for choosing presidential candidates are not competitive. At a December 2021 congress of the ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), incumbent president João Lourenço was confirmed as the head of its 2022 electoral list, receiving 98 percent of the votes from party delegates; there were no other nominees. President Lourenço secured his second term after the MPLA won the August 2022 parliamentary elections.

Members of the 220-seat, unicameral National Assembly are elected to five-year terms by proportional representation.

In the August 2022 elections, the MPLA won 51.2 percent of the vote and 124 seats, while the opposition National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and its coalition took 44 percent and 90 seats. Three smaller parties won the remainder.

African Union observers said the elections were generally peaceful but noted limits on access-to-information rights and press freedom. NGOs found that biased progovernment media, deficiencies in voter-registration processes, and the MPLA’s use of public resources disadvantaged the opposition.

The MPLA-controlled Constitutional Court dismissed an opposition complaint over the results a month after the elections. Opposition lawmakers took their seats but vowed to continue questioning the results.

The law states that the makeup of the National Election Commission (CNE) should reflect the disposition of power in the National Assembly, which gives an advantage to the MPLA. Voter registration is carried out by the Ministry of Territorial Administration. The voter list was audited ahead of the 2022 elections, but stakeholders raised concerns about a lack of transparency in the auditing firm’s appointment and findings. The CNE is legally required to disclose voter lists for each polling station at least 30 days prior to election day but failed to comply in 2022.

Articles 11 and 27 of the Law on Elections Observation empowered the CNE to limit the number of national and international observers. It set a ceiling of 2,000 national observers for the 2022 elections, further undermining electoral transparency.

Civil society pointed to irregularities in preparations for the 2022 elections and cited failures to display voter lists and publish summary minutes at many polling stations. The final results were reportedly disclosed without prior notification of political parties, in violation of the law; UNITA said it had been excluded from the disclosure process.

Competition is limited despite the presence of a multiparty system. The process for creating new political parties is fraught with bureaucratic obstacles and attempts at co-optation, factors that severely hinder public confidence in new parties.

In 2020, the Constitutional Court rejected the legalization of a new party, PRA-JA Servir Angola. The decision also placed limits on the ability of the party’s leader, Abel Chivukuvuku, and other promoters to establish another party ahead of the 2022 elections. In July 2023, the party litigated to legalize its status. In December, it filed a criminal complaint, saying that local officials behaved in a manner that made its legalization “impossible.”

The MPLA has governed without interruption since Angola secured independence in 1975. However, opposition parties have been building public support in recent years. The UNITA-led coalition gained 39 seats in the 2022 elections, while the MPLA lost 26.

The authorities have repeatedly postponed plans to hold the country’s first-ever municipal elections, and no balloting was scheduled by year’s end. Some analysts have argued that the administration is reluctant to relinquish its power to appoint subnational officials, as opposition parties may gain an opportunity to win office and demonstrate the ability to govern.

MPLA-aligned economic oligarchies nurture a system of dependency and patronage that can subvert candidates’ and voters’ ability to freely express their political choices.

While societal pressures can discourage women from active political participation, women’s rights advocates have an increasingly vocal presence in political life. Women hold 74 National Assembly seats. Members elected the body’s first woman speaker in 2022. Esperança da Costa became Angola’s first female vice president that same year.

Government and state institutions are controlled by the MPLA, which draws much of its support from the Kimbundu ethnic group. The Ovimbundo and Kikongo groups are predominant, respectively, in UNITA and the National Liberation Front of Angola.

Issues affecting LGBT+ people have historically been excluded from political debate, though this has somewhat changed after same-sex relations were decriminalized in 2019.

Governmental power is highly centralized in the presidency. Lourenço regularly exercises the ability to legislate by decree on key subjects without public discussion. The MPLA-controlled National Assembly acts largely as a rubber stamp in approving Lourenço’s policies.

After decades of MPLA rule, corruption and patronage have become entrenched in public and private life. According to an Afrobarometer survey released in April 2023, Angolans believe official corruption is becoming more common and fear retaliation for reporting misdeeds. A few high-profile associates of former president José Eduardo dos Santos have been convicted of corruption in recent years, including his son, José Filomeno dos Santos. Senior officials who are not directly connected to the dos Santos family have rarely been brought to trial.

The former president’s daughter, Isabel dos Santos, has been accused of siphoning public funds from the state oil firm, Sonangol. In June 2023, a Dutch court found that dos Santos had diverted €52.6 million ($57.3 million) in Sonangol funds via Netherlands-based firms she and her husband controlled. In December, the UK High Court ruled against dos Santos in a case brought by Angolan telecommunications firm Unitel, which accused her of inappropriately borrowing $461 million.

Government operations are generally opaque.

The state owns most media; such outlets report favorably on the government, rarely carrying critical coverage. Most ostensibly private outlets also act as mouthpieces of the regime. However, content produced by foreign news agencies is widely consumed.

Insult and defamation are considered criminal offenses. Journalists accused of engaging in incitement, hate speech, defense of fascist or racist ideologies, or dissemination of “fake news” can be charged with “abuse of press freedom.” Government officials regularly file criminal complaints and civil lawsuits against members of the press. Journalists also face physical violence in the course of their work.

The online Camunda News outlet closed in March 2023 following a campaign of harassment, which its owner blamed on the government. In December, at least 40 people stormed the newsroom of Novo Jornal amid a dispute over the newspaper’s ownership.

The constitution guarantees religious freedom, but the government imposes onerous criteria on religious groups for official recognition, which is required for the legal construction of houses of worship. Many Pentecostal churches remain unregistered. There are no registered Muslim groups, though Muslim communities have vocally demanded recognition and the right to worship freely.

Authorities clashed with members of Luz do Mundo (Light of the World), a Seventh Day Adventist sect, in Huambo Province in April 2023. Police said three people were killed after they tried to deliver a warrant, while witnesses disputed that figure. The government banned Luz do Mundo in 2015.

Academics must maintain a façade of agreement with the MPLA’s preferred narratives and risk dismissal for openly criticizing the party. Those who voice dissent are often monitored by security services.

Fear of retribution for expressing criticism of the government or controversial opinions in private conversations persists in Angola, and self-censorship is common. Known surveillance of NGOs, journalists, and academics can leave ordinary citizens reluctant to speak out. The government actively monitors online activity.

Opposition parties’ youth organizations claim that repression of political dissent has increased in recent years, citing instances where security forces have arbitrarily arrested and intimidated government critics.

In March 2023, security forces arrested a man who satirically portrayed Jonas Savimbi, a late rebel leader who waged a guerrilla war against the government in the 1970s and 80s, in a video disseminated online. He was held incommunicado for several days before being released.

Constitutional freedom-of-assembly guarantees are poorly upheld. While the Lourenço administration initially showed more tolerance for demonstrations than its predecessor, peaceful marches are still met with arrests and violence by security forces, sometimes with lethal results. In August 2023, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that police and intelligence personnel unlawfully killed at least 15 protesters and activists in the first half of the year.

Authorities responded forcefully to protests held in June 2023. Eight people died after police opened fire during a protest in Huambo Province. Protests motivated by cost-of-living concerns and a draft bill restricting NGO activity were held in several cities in mid-June. Some of these demonstrations reportedly occurred without incident, but authorities in Luanda used tear gas against participants. Authorities said they arrested 87 people in Benguela and Luanda, alleging violent behavior on protesters’ part. Organizers reported that officers targeted peaceful protesters and bystanders. In September, police stopped the Angolan Student Movement from holding a march, citing “orders from above.”

Human rights– and governance-related NGOs are closely monitored. The MPLA has historically made vocal attempts to discredit their work and sometimes threatened such groups with lawsuits and closure, prompting many to curtail their activities.

In May 2023, the National Assembly supported the first draft of a bill that would restrict NGO activity. NGOs would be prohibited from engaging in action that could be perceived as subversive and must disclose funding sources under some of the bill’s provisions. A supervisory body would also be empowered to dissolve NGOs. A parliamentary committee was revising the bill at year’s end.

Some 48 people were arrested at a human-rights training workshop in Cabinda in March 2023; most were released within two days but some were detained for over a month before being released pending trial.

Certain employees who provide services considered essential—including prison guards, firefighters, and oil-sector workers—may not legally strike. Unions not associated with the MPLA have faced interference and harassment. The secretary general of the Union of Higher Education Teachers faced intimidation over an ongoing strike in 2023. In April, his daughter was attacked by unidentified assailants who used tear gas.

Supreme Court judges are presidentially appointed to life terms without legislative input. Corruption and political pressure from the MPLA contribute to the judiciary’s inefficacy and undermine its independence. Supreme Court president Joel Leonardo faced accusations of corruption in 2023; while NGOs and a group of lawyers called for Leonardo to face scrutiny, he retained his post.

Constitutional due process guarantees are poorly upheld. Many defendants are unable to afford legal counsel, and the state largely fails to provide qualified legal aid to those who need it. Arbitrary arrest and lengthy pretrial detention remain problems. Due process violations have been reported in cases involving political activists who seek autonomy or independence for the provinces of Cabinda and Lunda Norte.

Security forces enjoy impunity for violent acts, including torture and extrajudicial killings committed against detainees, activists, protesters, and others. Angolan prisons are reportedly overcrowded, unhygienic, lacking in necessities, and plagued by sexual abuse. According to government statistics, violent crime, including robberies, assaults, and homicides, has increased in Luanda in recent years.

The low-level separatist insurgency in Cabinda continues to pose a security threat. The Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda claims to have engaged in guerrilla activity against Angolan soldiers, but the government typically does not confirm these claims.

Women face discrimination in the workplace that makes it difficult for them to rise to senior positions. Women and children accused of practicing witchcraft have reportedly been abused.

Same-sex relations were decriminalized in 2019, and discrimination based on sexual orientation is banned, though enforcement is reportedly inadequate. There are no specific protections against bias based on gender identity.

Seminomadic Khoi and San tribes in the south have often suffered from government neglect and a lack of access to services, particularly in the context of prolonged droughts.

Security forces allegedly harass and abuse immigrant communities, and the government has failed to adequately protect refugees and asylum seekers. In April 2023, HRW reported that that Angolan security personnel tasked with expelling migrant workers raped and abused Congolese women and children in late 2022 and early 2023.

Authorities and private security groups guarding Lunda Norte Province’s diamond mines reportedly restrict local residents’ movements. The process for securing entry and exit visas remains difficult and mired in corruption. Bribes are frequently required in order to obtain employment and residence.

Predatory elites tend to either disrupt or co-opt emerging new businesses. Authorities have at times expropriated land and demolished homes without providing compensation. Customary law practices can leave women with unequal inheritance rights.

While residents enjoy some freedom with respect to personal status issues like marriage and divorce, child marriage remains common, particularly in rural areas. Same-sex marriage is not recognized. Domestic violence is widespread, and perpetrators are rarely prosecuted.

Public oil revenues are not equitably distributed or used to benefit the entire population. Rural regions in particular have inadequate infrastructure and access to services, leading to inequities in economic opportunity.

Child labor is a major problem, and foreign workers are vulnerable to sex trafficking and forced labor in the construction and mining industries. Angolan authorities have historically failed to effectively investigate human trafficking or prosecute offenders. In its Trafficking in Persons Report 2023, the US State Department noted that the government has identified more trafficking survivors but did not offer sufficient protection or assistance.