LUANDA (Reuters) - The leader of Angola's largest opposition party said on Monday people had been forced to vote against their wishes in the country's parliamentary election and he was contesting the results
Preliminary returns from the poll showed the ruling MPLA(Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola) headed for alandslide victory.
But the controversy threatens to shatter the fragilepolitical stability that has existed since the end of Angola'scivil war in 2002.
"There are people that were instructed, who were forced tovote, (for) a particular party. I wonder how this election wasfree," UNITA leader Isaias Samakuva said in an interview onSouth Africa's SAfm radio on Monday, apparently refering to theMPLA.
Samakuva said earlier that the two-day vote had been badlyflawed, with polling stations opening late or not at all andofficials failing to properly confirm the identify of voters onregistration lists.
Voting began on Friday but was extended into Saturdaybecause of delays and confusion at polling stations in Luandaprovince, home to 21 percent of Angola's 8.3 million voters.
The government has denied any electoral wrongdoing whileadmitting there had been administrative glitches in some areas.
Preliminary results, based on slightly more than two-thirdsof the vote, show the MPLA with about 82 percent of thenational vote versus 10.5 percent for UNITA and leading in all18 provinces.
Asked what course of action UNITA, a former rebel movement,would take if Angola's electoral commission let the resultsstand, Samakuva said.
"We will take the steps correspondent to the action fromthe National Electoral Commission."
The international community has been watching the voteclosely after tarnished elections in Zimbabwe and Kenya, hopingthat the former Portuguese colony would defy its own historyand emerge from the election with political consensus.
Luanda touted the ballot as a showcase for its recoveryfrom the war and hopes it will spur foreign investment for itsbooming economy. Angola rivals Nigeria as sub-Saharan Africa'sbiggest oil producer.
(Reporting by Michael Georgy; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
