African Politics - Ruling MPLA Leading Angola Elections

Angola's ruling MPLA party has taken a commanding lead in national elections, with almost 75% of the vote, partial results suggest.

With nearly 70% of votes counted from Friday's poll, the main opposition Unita party garnered about 18%, the electoral commission said.

If confirmed, the results mean another term for President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, 70, who has ruled since 1979.

The polls were the second vote since the civil war ended a decade ago.

Analysts had predicted an easy victory for Mr dos Santos' Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), which won more than 80% in the last vote.

The polls are the first held under a newly adopted constitution, under which the leader of the winning party in the 220-member parliament becomes president.

The MPLA has been in power since Angola's independence from Portugal in 1975.

The new Casa party - which split from Unita in March - was trailing distant third in the Friday's poll with 4.7% of the vote, the electoral commission said.

The Unita party had called for the election to be delayed, expressing concern about a lack of transparency, especially the failure to publish a full electoral roll.

The provisional turnout was put at 57%, but in the capital Luanda and several other provinces it was much lower - with only one in four registered voters taking part, reporter Louise Redvers in Angola says.

Some voters were unable to cast their ballot as they did not appear on lists, despite being registered, she adds, while others are believed to have stayed away due to expectations the vote would be rigged.

Angola - Africa's second leading oil producer - has witnessed an economic boom since the end of the 27-year civil war in 2002, but the opposition says the wealth has only benefited a small elite.