Angola: Ruling party leads in provisional results

By Hassan Isilow JOHANNESBURG (AA) - Angola’s ruling People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) party is leading with 64.5 percent of votes tallied from more than half of polling centers across the country, the National Electoral Commission (CNE) announced Thursday.The provisional results gave main opposition party, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), 24 percent of the vote followed by the Broad Convergence for the Salvation of Angola – Electoral Coalition (CASA-CE) with 8.7 percent, according to a report by sate-run daily Jornal de Angola. Angolans voted Wednesday for a new president, marking the end of a 38-year-old rule of President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos.Dos Santos, 74, announced he would retire as president but remain as head of his party, the MPLA.Former Defense Minister Joao Lourenco stood as presidential candidate in his stead.The MPLA has ruled Angola since it gained independence from Portugal in 1975. Nine million voters were registered to vote in the polls for over 200 members of parliament and the president.Five opposition parties contested the election, of which more complete results are expected to be released either Friday or Saturday. Angola currently the second leading oil producer on the continent has a population of 28 million people.