English MEDIA AND ELECTIONS Journalist Safety The 2017 general elections held in August saw the much-awaited changing of the guard at the highest level of government, with João Lourenço occupying the number one slot on the MPLA party list, taking over from José Eduardo dos Santos, who was at the helm of the party and the country for almost 40 years. By and large, journalists in Angola enjoy relative safety in the exercise of their profession. In Angola, the weapons of choice used against journalists are the courts, doing the bidding of the politically powerful whenever they see grounds for legal action for defamation. The MPLA won the elections with a reduced majority, with enough votes for 150 seats in the 220-seat assembly. Its long-standing foe, UNITA, conquered 51 seats. This represents a drop of almost 11% for the MPLA and an 8% gain for UNITA. Despite this significant reversal, opposition parties challenged the results, claiming that the vote at provincial level had been tallied in only three provinces. A few days later, UNITA claimed electoral fraud and appealed to the Constitutional Court, presenting seven key elements for the Court to deliberate on. The Court dismissed the case, saying that the evidence presented did not prove there were any irregularities or biases in the electoral process. The elections were monitored by more than three thousand national and international observers. The biggest qualm from the media and the wider civil society was that the National Elections Commission (CNE) is not a truly independent body, despite the parameters set out in Law 12/12 of 13 April 2012. As a case in point, civil society feels strongly about the fact that voter registration is done by the Ministry of Territorial Administration (MAT), and not CNE. The former minister in charge of MAT and the voters’ roll – is today the country’s deputy head of state. “The changes taking place in the new political cycle are what was promised during the electoral campaign. The changes will be founded on a society that regained its moral compass, with a serious fight against corruption and other practices detrimental to the public interest, to ensure the end of impunity and the opening of opportunities for all.” Victor Silva, Jornal de Angola 16 So This is Democracy? 2017