Angola state media declare Dos Santos president-elect

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Angolan President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos after voting on August 31, 2012. Photo/AFP  AFP

By AFP
Posted  Sunday, September 2  2012 at  12:39

IN SUMMARY

• Angolans voted Friday for 220 members of parliament, with the leader of the winning party awarded a five-year term as president

Angola's government mouthpiece Jornal de Angola on Sunday declared incumbent Jose Eduardo dos Santos the president-elect, two days after elections his MPLA party was widely expected to win. Read (Dos Santos poised for victory with big lead in Angola vote)

The paper ran a front-page headline declaring "Large victory for MPLA" alongside a full-page picture of Dos Santos clapping.

"The MPLA is the big winner in the 2012 general elections, and everything points to a victory of more than 75 percent of the ballots cast," the paper said on its website.

"The head of the party list, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, is the president-elect of the republic."

The paper made the announcement as the National Electoral Commission said 72 percent of polling stations had reported results, giving the ruling People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) nearly three-quarters of the vote.

Many of the ballots yet to be counted were in the capital Luanda, home to nearly a third of the country's registered voters, where opposition parties were performing better.

Angolans voted Friday for 220 members of parliament, with the leader of the winning party awarded a five-year term as president.

That left Dos Santos all but certain to extend his nearly 33-year rule over Africa's second-largest oil producer, despite a series of urban protests demanding that more of the nation's wealth go towards helping the 55 percent of the population living in abject poverty.