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Angola's opposition loses appeal to annul election result
Isaias Samakuva, leader of Angola's main opposition UNITA party , addresses supporters in Viana, near the capital Luanda, August 29, 2012. PHOTO BY REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko
14/09/2017
LUANDA (Reuters) - Angola’s Constitutional Court rejected on Wednesday an appeal by the largest opposition party to annul the results of last month’s election, which gave a landslide victory to the ruling MPLA party.
In a 38 page court document, the Constitutional Court said the evidence presented by The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) did not prove there were any irregularities or biases in the electoral process. The ruling is final and cannot be appealed.
A spokesperson for UNITA said the party did not have any immediate comment.
The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) won the Aug 23 vote with 61 percent, with UNITA second on 27 percent.
UNITA had argued that in multiple provinces the results presented by the National Electoral Commission differed considerably from their own tally, alleging the results were not the product of local vote counting but were instead centrally engineered.
The Constitutional Court dismissed this argument, saying the polling station tallies presented by UNITA did not show any bias against the party.
(Reporting by Stephen Eisenhammer; editingb by Ralph Boulton)
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