By Africa Review

Four political parties that contested the August 23 election in Angola have united to challenge the outcome.

The parties said in a statement that the provisional results announced by the National Electoral Commission (CNE) were illegal and unconstitutional.

The Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita), the Board of Convergence for Angolan Salvation- Electoral Coalition (Casa-Ce), Social Renovation Party (PRS) and National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), vowed to challenge the election results.

The ballots

The latest provisional results gave MPLA a commanding 61.05 per cent lead, with Unita a distant second with 26.7 per cent. Casa-Ce had garnered 9.49 per cent of the votes cast.

PRS was fourth with 1.3 per cent, FNLA, 0.9 per cent and APN, 0.5 per cent.

Final results are expected to be announced on Wednesday.

The leaders of the four parties said there was a need for a scrutiny of the ballots as provided for in the constitution.

The parties have also faulted the civil society groups and the churches that have given the August 23 election a clean bill of health.

The claims

The aggrieved parties said the election was characterised by the disappearance of some ballot boxes and the mysterious appearance of new ones, among other irregularities.

However CNE spokesperson Julia Ferreira dismissed the opposition claims as unfounded, untimely and illegitimate.

She promised a more careful analysis of the claims.

Angola held its fourth General Election since it gained independence from Portugal in 1975 and the third since the end of the war in 2002.