Angola's ruling MPLA in 'commanding lead' with over 64% of votes, main opposition kicks

<p>Preliminary results of Angola’s August 23 polls show that the ruling <span class="caps">MPLA</span> has garnered over 64% of votes whiles the main opposition <span class="caps">UNITA</span> has secured a little over 24%.</p> <p>The electoral body, <span class="caps">CNE</span>, on Thursday disclosed to the press in the capital, Luanda, that final results were expected much later. <span class="caps">CNE</span> put voter turnout at 76.83%.</p> <p>The <span class="caps">MPLA</span> had claimed a “qualified majority” on Thursday morning but failed to back their claims with figures. At the time opposition tallies was projecting that they had over 47% of votes.</p> <h3><a href="http://www.africanews.com/2017/08/21/angola-picks-dos-santos-successor-here-are-the-six-contenders/" target="_blank">Angola votes: Here are the six men hoping to succeed dos Santos</a></h3> <p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="fr" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Angola?src=hash">#Angola</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CNE?src=hash">#CNE</a>: résultats provisoires nationaux<br /> Mpla 64,57%<br /> Unita 24,04%<br /> Casa-Ce 8,56<br /> <span class="caps">PRS</span> 1,37%<br /> <span class="caps">FNLA</span> 0,95%<br /> <span class="caps">APN</span> : 0,52%<br /> Participation: 76,83 %</p>— Sonia Rolley (@soniarolley) <a href="https://twitter.com/soniarolley/status/900754037586448385">August 24, 2017</a></blockquote><br /> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p> <h3> <a href="http://www.africanews.com/2017/08/22/angola-votes-background-to-4th-polls-since-multi-party-rule-in-1992/" target="_blank">Angola votes: Background to 4th polls since multi-party rule in 1992</a></h3> <p>Voting was rescheduled for three provinces in the country. The people of Benguela, Lunda Norte and Moxico will be casting their ballots on Saturday.</p> <p>The reason the three provinces failed to vote was due to delay in the opening of polls caused by bad weather and the recent crash of a CNE helicopter that distributes election materials, the electoral commission said.</p> <p>Given the trend that provisional results in the 15 other provinces have gone, political watchers doubt if it will have any significant impact on the preliminary figures.</p> <h3> <a href="http://www.africanews.com/2016/12/03/africa-s-longest-serving-presidents-still-going-strong/" target="_blank">Africa’s longest serving presidents still going strong</a></h3> <h3> Follow our <span class="caps">LIVE</span> coverage of the entire process in the stream below. </h3> <p><iframe src="//embed.scribblelive.com/Embed/v7.aspx?Id=2649200&ThemeId=19714" width="100%" height="1200" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>