Angola's Dos Santos secures big election win
Luanda, 02 Sept - (ANA) - Angola's long-serving President Jose Eduardo dos Santos and his MPLA party scored a landslide win on Saturday in an election criticised as one-sided and not credible by opponents and civil society activists, according to provisional results. The results from Friday's voting announced by the National Elections Commission showed the governing party with 74 percent of the vote - far ahead of its nearest rivals with votes counted from over 70 percent of polling stations. Under a new constitution introduced in 2010, the MPLA win means Dos Santos, who turned 70 this week, is elected for a further five-year term on top of the nearly 33 years he has already served as leader of Africa's No. 2 oil producer.
Angola's seaside capital was calm and there were no signs of any celebration or uproar in the streets, which indicated the overwhelming MPLA victory in only the third election since independence from Portugal in 1975 was widely anticipated.(ANA)
FA/ANA/02 September 2012----------