A Few Surprises in Angola’s Results

Angola’s ruling party has a solid majority after nearly all votes were counted in a national election, the electoral commission said on Thursday, but the main opposition party has cast doubt on the results of the divisive poll. The MPLA’s likely win would give President Joao Lourenco a second five-year term in the oil-producing southern African nation and extend his party’s continuous rule of nearly five decades since independence from Portugal in 1975. But if the ratios of votes remain as they are, it would also mean an unprecedented loss of the MPLA’s two-thirds majority in parliament, forcing it to cooperate with opposition lawmakers for the first time. The election commission said that with over 97% of the votes counted, the formerly Marxist MPLA (People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola) was ahead with a 51.7% majority, while its main opposition rival the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) had 44.5%. UNITA had not yet commented on the most recent results issued by the electoral commission. According to UNITA’s count of nearly 40% of results, it had 46.89% of the vote and the MPLA has 47.99%. The election commission (CNE) has repeatedly said the election was fair and transparent.

SOURCE: REUTERS