The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) appealed for calm from its supporters, but said it already has data from the electoral minutes that could give it a victory in Wednesday's general elections.

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 from each polling station, UNITA leader Ruben Sicato said the party is taking a responsible position" and should 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, in a press conference at the party headquarters.

However, he added: "We have to take the attitude that should be of a responsible party, we have to have the minutes" of the votes and "there is no room for us to create an atmosphere of upheaval, an atmosphere of a certain agitation that was what our opponent sought to do all along."

According to UNITA's provisional data, with 39.8% of ballots counted, the largest opposition party has 46.89% of the votes, against 47.99% for the MPLA. A difference that UNITA expects to overcome as data from Luanda province, the country's largest, 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's strongholds, such as Sumbe, Menongue or Moxico.

In Luanda, UNITA's data indicate that, with 53% of the minutes counted, the party of Galo Negro won with 66.33% against MPLA's 30.87%.

"Obviously, as the votes are counted things will change," said Ruben Sicato, who insists that his party wants "transparency" and is only releasing 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 way of a certain pedagogy," Ruben Sicato told journalists.

In his opinion, "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 pointed out, "even within the ruling party itself there are already several discordant voices saying that change is needed," considering that the partial results already collected indicate a big rise in the opposition.

"We at this point already feel like winners, because comparing the 2017 results with the current ones, we are clearly above what we had," he said.

For her part, UNITA deputy Mihaela Web said that today the party filed a new complaint with the judicial authorities because "the announcements of the provisional results by the CNE are not in accordance with the law.

However, he admitted that the complaint will hardly be attended to because, in Angola, "judicial institutions still receive orders from the executive power."(Lusa)