By Hassan Isilow
JOHANNESBURG (AA) - The ruling People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) is leading in the general elections, according to provisional results released on Thursday by the National Electoral Commission (CNE).
With 33% of the votes counted, the MPLA garnered 60.65% or 1,219,571 votes followed by its main competitor, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), which received 33.85% or 680,745 votes.
Angolans voted Wednesday in the country’s fifth multi-party elections to choose a president and 220 members of parliament. Eight parties ran in the election but the competition narrowed to the MPLA and UNITA.
More than 14 million Angolans registered to cast ballots.
The MPLA, which has led the oil-rich southern African country since gaining independence in 1975, is criticized for not containing high unemployment, inflation and poverty.
Angolans remain one of the poorest people in the world despite the country’s wealth.
MPLA is led by President Joao Lourenço who is seeking a second term in office.
Lourenço succeeded Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who died last month at age 79 at a clinic in Barcelona, following a long illness.
Dos Santos, who ruled from 1979 to 2017, was viewed by some as corrupt. His daughter, Isabel dos Santos, is linked to several graft incidents.
His body was returned to Angola last weekend and is expected to be buried Aug. 28, his birthday.