After the National Electoral Commission (CNE) indicated that the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) has an absolute majority, according to preliminary data from the summary minutes that include the votes of each of the polling stations, the leader UNITA's Ruben Sicato stated that the party is taking a "responsible" position and must count the minutes and be sure before claiming victory.
Many of the supporters have said that "we should never accept the results that the CNE is presenting", because "they know that what is being presented does not correspond to reality", said Ruben Sicato, at a press conference at the party's headquarters.
However, he added: "We have to take the attitude that should be a responsible party, we have to have the minutes" of the votes and "there is no room for us to create an environment of convulsions, an environment of certain agitation that was what our opponent tried to do all the time".
According to provisional data from UNITA, with 39.8 percent of the minutes counted, the largest opposition party has 46.89 percent of the votes, against 47.99 percent for the MPLA. A difference that UNITA expects to overcome as data from the province of Luanda, the largest in the country, is entered into its system.
At the press conference, UNITA claimed victory in at least three provinces (Luanda, Zaire and Cabinda) and maintained that provisional data indicate that the opposition has high votes in MPLA strongholds, such as Sumbe, Menongue or Moxico.
In Luanda, UNITA data indicate that, with 53 percent of the minutes counted, the Galo Negro party won with 66.33 percent against 30.87 percent for the MPLA.
"Obviously, as the votes are counted, things will change," said Ruben Sicato, who insists that his party wants "transparency" and is only disclosing the data contained in the summary minutes of the votes. "We have the same data as the CNE", he stressed.
"In politics, we have to give time to time" and it is necessary "to show people the path of a certain pedagogy", Ruben Sicato told journalists.
In his view, "the ruling party is creating a situation of political obscurantism", but the "population is engaged so that there is more democracy in Angola" and "it is necessary to make the ruling party change its attitude".
But, he stressed, "even in the ruling party itself, there are already several dissenting voices saying that it is necessary to change", considering that the partial results already collected indicate a great rise in the opposition.
"We already feel like winners at this point, because comparing the results of 2017 with the current ones, we are clearly above what we had", he said.
For her part, UNITA deputy Mihaela Web said that this Thursday the party filed a new complaint with the judicial authorities because "the announcements of the provisional results by the CNE do not comply with the law".
However, she admitted that the complaint will hardly be answered because, in Angola, "judicial institutions still receive orders from the executive branch".
