LUANDA, ANGOLA (AP) – Angola’s President Joao Lourenco appeared set to win a second term and his MPLA party was close to extending its 47-year rule over the country as final election votes were tallied on Friday.
With 97 per cent of ballots from Wednesday’s election counted, the ruling Peoples Movement for the Liberation of Angola, known as the MPLA, had 51 per cent of the vote, according to the National Electoral Commission. The longtime opposition party, the Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), secured 44 per cent of the vote. Smaller parties took the remaining votes.
Turnout was low, with just 45.7 per cent of registered voters casting their ballots.
