Foreign observers say Angola vote free, credible

Foreign observer missions monitoring the Angolan election, which is set to return long-ruling Jose Eduardo dos Santos to power, said Sunday the vote was credible.

"The general elections in Angola were free, fair, transparent and credible," said Pedro Verona Pires, who headed the African Union team of observers.

The Community of Portuguese-speaking countries, CPLP, said the elections were "free, transparent and democratic".

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) and International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (CIRGL), also shared similar findings.

But Pires, who is the former president of Cape Verde, pointed to the need for Angola to improve the process of accrediting foreign and local observers, as well as party monitors.

"It would be desirable to improve the accreditation of national and foreign observers, political parties monitors and to facilitate voting by Angolans living abroad," said Pires.

The opposition Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita) had earlier complained that some 2,000 of his party's observers were denied accreditation to polling stations.

After Friday's general election, Dos Santos, in power for 33 years, looked set to add another five years to his reign with his party taking a large victory.

With 85 percent of the polling stations reporting, Dos Santos' Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) party had taken nearly three quarters of the ballots.