Johannesburg/Luanda - With nearly 55 per cent of the ballots counted, Angola's ruling MPLA party seem headed for a massive victory of more than 80 per cent of the vote in the country's first parliamentary elections in 16 years, reports said Sunday.

According to the state electoral commission, the MPLA party of President Jose Eduardo dos Santos was ahead in 17 of 18 provinces. Should the results be confirmed, the MPLA would have more than the two-thirds majority needed to change the constitution.

The official results are expected at the earliest by the middle of next week.

The largest opposition party UNITA had so far received little more than 10 per cent of the vote. The rest went to smaller parties.

Johannesburg/Luanda  - Angola's ruling MPLA party was heading for a massive victory in the country's first parliamentary elections in 16 years, with initial projections by the country's electoral commission showing the party claiming more than 80 per cent of the vote, reports said Sunday.

Although the opposition UNITA party has already begun to dispute the results of the two-day vote due to problems during the polling, independent observers such as those from the European Union spoke only of poor preparation that affected some parts of the capital Luanda.

Johannesburg/Luanda - Angolan opposition parties on Saturday, the second and last day of the country's national elections, expressed misgivings about the running of the polls in the capital city Luanda and were considering calling for a new vote.

According to election observers the opening of polling places was delayed by several hours on Friday in the capital, where 20 per cent of country's 8.3 million registered voters live.

The country's first national election in 16 years though praised by the head of the European Union observer team for its "peaceful manner" was nevertheless marked by a lack of preparedness.

Johannesburg/Luanda - Angolans were going to the polls Friday in the first national election in the war-scarred country in 16 years. President Eduardo dos Santos' party was expected to win easily.

Dos Santos, 68, who has maintained a tight grip on power for 29 years, had repeatedly delayed parliamentary and presidential elections on the grounds that the country's ruined infrastructure made them unfeasible.

The elections to the 220-seat National Assembly on Friday and Saturday, while deemed unlikely to dent the majority of dos Santos' MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola), are seen as a dry run for presidential elections scheduled for next year.

Johannesburg/Luanda - Angolans go to the polls later this month in the first national election in the war-scarred country in 16 years. President Eduardo dos Santos' party is expected to win easily.

Dos Santos, 68, who has maintained a tight grip on power for 29 years, had repeatedly delayed parliamentary and presidential elections on the grounds that the country's ruined infrastructure made them unfeasible.

The elections to the 220-seat National Assembly on September 5 and 6, while deemed unlikely to dent the majority of dos Santos' MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola), are seen as a dry run for presidential elections scheduled for next year.