1992 — Angola's Election That Ended in War

On September 29–30, 1992, Angola held its first-ever multiparty elections, for both president and parliament, under United Nations supervision. The vote was the centerpiece of the 1991 Bicesse Accords, meant to end 17 years of civil war between the MPLA government and Jonas Savimbi's UNITA. Incumbent José Eduardo dos Santos won 49.6 percent of the presidential vote to Savimbi's 40.1 percent.

Dos Santos fell just short of the majority needed, requiring a runoff, while the MPLA took 54 percent in parliament. Savimbi rejected the results as fraudulent, the runoff never happened, and Angola plunged back into a devastating war that lasted another decade. UNITA did not fully demobilize until Savimbi's death in 2002.