President of Angola Lourenco Takes Lead in Election, Preliminary Results Suggest

The election decides not only the composition of the Angolan parliament, but also the fate of the top office in the country, since the leader of the winning party becomes the president.

The first results from the Angolan polling stations were announced following the Wednesday vote.

According to preliminary results published overnight by Angola's electoral commission, the governing People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), chaired by the incumbent president Joao Lourenco, tops the race with 60.65 percent of the vote, as 33 percent of ballots were counted.

At the same time, the opposition National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), which is led by Adalberto Costa Junior, gained 33.85 percent.

The opposition, however, also claimed leadership, citing their own tally.

"Our poll counting centres ... give us clear provisional indication of a winning trend for UNITA in all provinces of the country," UNITA's deputy leader Abel Chivukuvuku said during a night conference. "We are confident, calm and tranquil."

During the previous election, held in 2017, the MPLA won with 61.1 percent of the vote, while UNITA came second with 26.7 percent. The breakdown allowed the MPLA to secure 150 seats in the 220 seat National Assembly; UNITA took 51.

The African nation has been run by the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola since it gained independence from Portugal in 1975. Since the introduction of democratic elections in 1992, the party has won every vote.