By Paul Simao
LUANDA (Reuters) - Angola's opposition UNITA party reversedcourse on Monday and said it accepted the results of thecountry's parliamentary election, which showed the ruling MPLAwinning a landslide victory and extending its 33-year rule.
The decision, coming a few days after UNITA vowed tocontest what it described as a flawed poll, ensured theoil-rich African nation would emerge from its first election in16 years without the turmoil that marked recent polls in Kenyaand Zimbabwe.
The MPLA had taken an insurmountable lead over UNITA, theformer rebel group and largest opposition party. With nearly 80of the vote counted from the two-day poll, the MPLA had about82 percent of the vote versus just over 10 percent for UNITA.
"The leadership of UNITA accepts the results of theelection," UNITA leader Isaias Samakuva said in a newsconference at his party's headquarters in Luanda. He added thathe hoped the MPLA would govern in the interests of allAngolans.
UNITA had contested the election due to what it describedas voting irregularities on September 5 and demanded it beredone, a move that threatened to shatter the fragile politicalstability that has existed since the end of a 27-year civil warin 2002.
The end of the electoral wrangling is likely to be welcomedby investors, particularly oil firms, who are generallycomfortable with the MPLA's pro-business policies. Angolarivals Nigeria as sub-Saharan Africa's largest oil producer andits economy grew by 24 percent in 2007.
"It is not going to change the political landscape. Thesame government will carry on as before and it is veryfavourable to investors," said Indira Campos, a researcher withLondon-based think-tank Chatham House.
OBSERVERS SATISFIED
The international community had watched the unfoldingelection saga closely, hoping Angola would defy its own historyand emerge from the poll with political consensus. Thecountry's last election in 1992 led to a resumption of the war.
That hope began to unravel on Friday in a chaotic first dayof voting, when hundreds of polling stations opened late or notat all and officials failed to provide the voter registrationlists needed to identify those casting ballots.
UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola)complained that the problems could have allowed some to votemore than once, possibly inflating the MPLA vote.
Authorities denied the opposition's allegations of foulplay but admitted that there were administrative glitches insome areas, particularly in Luanda province, home to 21 percentof the nation's 8.3 million voters.
An extra day of voting was organised on Saturday.
While admitting the vote had been marred by organisationalproblems, European Union monitors said they had not endangeredthe electoral process and that no cases of violence wereobserved 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.
Samakuva, who faces dissent within his party, had ruled outany prospect the former rebel group would again take up armsagainst the government. The long war between the two sideskilled half a million people.
In the last parliamentary election in 1992 the MPLA won 54percent to UNITA's 34 percent. UNITA rejected the results of aparallel presidential race and fighting resumed. The conflictended in 2002 when rebel leader Jonas Savimbi was killed.
(Additional reporting by Michael Georgy in Johannesburg andIngrid Melander in Brussels; editing by Richard Williams)
