Angola's ruling MPLA party has won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections earlier this months, official figures have confirmed.

The main opposition and ex-rebels, Unita, took just over 10% of the vote, losing more than 50 of its seats.

The Angolan electoral commission said turnout was high, with MPLA gaining nearly 82% of the vote and 191 seats.

It was the country's first polls since 1992, when Unita refused to accept defeat and resumed a long civil war.

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The BBC's Louise Redvers in the capital, Luanda, says there were fears that this poll could cause more civil unrest.

However, Unita has already accepted defeat and with the exception of a few isolated incidents, the month-long campaigning passed peacefully and there have been no reports of a backlash, our reporter says.

EU observers said the vote was an "advance for democracy" but refused to say it was free and fair.

The electoral commission and constitutional court rejected a Unita call for a rerun of the vote in Luanda, where voting was chaotic because more than 300 polling stations did not open or lacked materials.

"The court has rejected our claim but what we wanted to do and what we have done is put on record the issues we had and that is part of the democratic process of an election," Unita spokesman Jardo Muekalia said.

The MPLA has ruled Angola since the country gained independence from Portugal in 1975 but it fought a civil war against Unita until 2002.

(BBC)

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