By Paul Simao
LUANDA (Reuters) - Angola's largest opposition party UNITAsaid on Monday it accepted the results of the country'sparliamentary election, which showed the ruling MPLA partywinning a landslide victory.
MPLA had taken an insurmountable lead in a parliamentaryelection to extend its 33-year rule despite earlier oppositionprotests that the poll was badly flawed.
"The leadership of UNITA accepts the results of theelection and congratulates the MPLA," UNITA leader IsaiasSamakuva said.
With nearly 80 of the vote counted from the two-day poll,the MPLA was winning about 82 percent of the vote versus justover 10 percent for UNITA, the former rebel group and largestopposition party in the oil-rich nation.
Based on these results, the MPLA (Popular Movement for theLiberation of Angola), in power since independence fromPortugal, was leading in all 18 provinces. It was within reachof a coveted two thirds of the 220-seat parliament, giving itthe power to change the constitution.
UNITA had contested the election due to what it describedas voting irregularities on September 5 and demanded that it beredone, a move that threatened to shatter the fragile politicalstability that has existed since the end of a 27-year civil warin 2002.
Before announcing the latest set of results, Angola'selectoral commission said it had rejected UNITA's challengebecause of a lack of proof of wrongdoing.
CRITICAL STEP
While admitting that the vote, the first in 16 years, hadbeen marred by organisational problems, European Union monitorssaid they had not endangered the electoral process and that nocases of violence were observed during the campaign or voting.
"The election marks a critical step for democracy despitethe organisation difficulties. The Angolan people participatedactively and voted freely," the EU mission said in a statementfollowing a news conference in Luanda.
Luisa Morgantini, head of the mission, stopped short ofdeclaring the election legitimate and said observers wouldcontinue to monitor vote counting and investigate complaints.The EU observer team will issue a full report in two months.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso calledthe election a step toward consolidating multi-party democracy.
The African Union's observer team said on Monday theelection had been free and fair, echoing the view of theSouthern African Development Community, which last weekenddeclared the poll credible, transparent and free.
An MPLA victory is likely to be welcomed by investors,particularly oil firms, who are generally comfortable with thegovernment's pro-business policies. Angola rivals Nigeria assub-Saharan Africa's largest oil producer and its economy grewby 24 percent in 2007.
(Additional reporting by Michael Georgy in Johannesburg andIngrid Melander in Brussels; editing by Elizabeth Piper)
