Dos Santos' MPLA takes 71.8% in Angola elections: commission

Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos. By Stephane de Sakutin (AFP/File)

LUANDA (AFP) - Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos' ruling People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) took more than two thirds of the vote in general elections, said official results released Friday.

"The MPLA has won 71.8 percent of the votes, the Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita) 18.6 percent and Casa (Broad Convergence for Angola's Salvation) six percent," National Electoral Commission president Andre da Silva Neto told reporters.

"In light of these results Jose Eduardo dos Santos, first on the MPLA's list, is proclaimed president of the republic and Manuel Vicente, second on the list, is proclaimed deputy president," he added.

The leader of the winning party automatically becomes head of state, according to a constitutional change in 2010.

"The MPLA will have 175 deputies in the National Assembly, Unita 32, Casa eight, the PRS (Party of Social Renovation) three and the FNLA (National Liberation Front of Angola) two," said Neto.

Africa's second-largest oil producer voted on August 31 in only its third elections since independence from Portugal in 1975.

Although the party was widely expected to win, its landslide victory is nevertheless nearly 10 percent weaker than its performance in the previous polls in 2008, when it took 81 percent of the ballots.

Some disenchanted voters appeared to have chosen to back the main opposition party Unita and the recently formed Casa party instead.

Unita's performance showed an increase in support from the 10 percent it won four years ago, despite Casa breaking away earlier this year with Unita and MPLA dissenters.

According to the final results 6.1 million people voted out of 9.7 million registered in the second elections since the end of a violent civil war which ended in 2002.

Dos Santos, who celebrates 33 years in power this month, now has a renewed mandate for at least another four years.

International observers have declared the vote democratic and credible, though opposition parties have denounced irregularities in the organisation of the polls since the start of the year.

Unita and Casa said they were holding a parallel count of the votes to compare with the official results of the CNE, which they believe is too close to the MPLA government.

Despite the ruling party's large victory, urban protests calling for more of the nation's wealth to go towards helping the 55 percent of the population living in abject poverty have increased over the past year.