Angola’s elections were, for the first time, a tight race between the governing People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and a coalition led by its historic rival, National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). The coalition, UNITA-FPU (United Patriotic Front) included independent candidates from other opposition parties and formations.
Preliminary results from civil society parallel counting, led by the Civic Movement Mudei, have given a landslide victory to the UNITA coalition, at least in urban centres. For its part, the government-controlled National Electoral Commission announced provisional results that gave a thin majority (51%) to the ruling party.
