Unita rejects MPLA’s big vote lead

Angola's main opposition Unita has rejected provisional election results that give the ruling party, MPLA, a significant lead in a parliamentary election, saying the numbers were not gathered transparently and did not tally with their own data.Earlier, the ruling party claimed election victory heralding end of José Eduardo dos Santos’s near 40-year rule.Though final results from Wednesday’s voting were still being counted, the MPLA said it was on track to win a two-thirds parliamentary majority, based on its calculations.Though the MPLA has yet to lose an electoral contest since a return to multiparty democracy 25 years ago, the real significance of the poll was that 74-year-old Dos Santos, who has ruled Angola for 38 years, did not stand as a presidential candidate.His successor as president – should the MPLA projections be confirmed – will be João Lourenço, the 63-year-old defence minister and party veteran.“We can affirm that the future president will be comrade João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço,” João Martins, MPLA secretary for political and electoral affairs, said.Unita disputed the MPLA’s projected result.“Looking at the trend, the MPLA won’t have a majority at all,” Unita’s parliamentary head Adalberto Costa Júnior told Reuters.More than 9 million electors voted for a 220-seat parliament that would automatically select the candidate of the winning party as president. The MPLA won 72% in elections in 2012.Reuters& Guardian

Unita rejects MPLA’s big vote lead

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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Unita rejects MPLA’s big vote lead

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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