Angola opposition parties question vote result

LUANDA (AFP) - Three Angolan opposition parties, including Unita, on Tuesday filed official complaints against the results of the August 31 polls, saying 35 percent of voters couldn't participate.

Main opposition party Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita) "filed a complaint with the National Electoral Commission (CNE) because the voting process, which did not respect the constitution nor the election law, has several irregularities," it said in a statement.

President Jose Eduardo dos Santos' ruling People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) took 71.8 percent in the polls, Unita won 18.6 percent and the new Casa party (Broad Convergence for Angola's Salvation) six percent.

Casa and the Party for Social Renovation (PRS) also lodged complaints, they told AFP.

But Unita said the voters' roll was manipulated so that 35 percent of voters could not participate. Official results showed around 63 percent of the 9.7 million on the list voted.

Over 40 percent of Unita's election monitors were denied accreditation, and national as well as international observers had great difficulty in doing so, it said.

African Union observers also urged Angolan election authorities to improve the accreditation of observers and political parties monitors.

Unita also denounced the unequal race with the ruling party, accusing provincial authorities of supporting the MPLA and Dos Santos of using public funds to campaign.

"These violations of the law during the campaign are so serious that after our complaint with the CNE Unita will take legal recourse," said the party, which almost doubled its performance in the previous polls in 2008.

The vote on August 31 was only the third since the country's independence from Portugal in 1975.

The MPLA's victory secured Dos Santos another four-year term in office. He celebrates 33 years in power this month.