The results were based on ballots counted from 97% of polling stations and the final count shouldn’t result in any significant changes, Quilundo said. Unita has questioned the transparency of the vote and has yet to concede defeat.

“We won with an outright majority and any party that wins with a majority can only be happy,” MPLA spokesman Rui Falcao said in a phone interview, as he urged Unita to concede it lost. “In every game there are winners and losers. The winners must remain humble, while the losing side must accept defeat.”

The election was the most hotly contested in Africa’s second-biggest oil producer since a civil war ended in 2002, with Unita and its charismatic leader Adalberto Costa Junior tapping into widespread discontent over rampant poverty and unemployment to attract support. Despite the loss, it was Unita’s best election result since the end of the conflict. The rebel group-turned-opposition party also won the most votes in Luanda.

As the election proceeded peacefully, Angola’s bonds rallied and are set for their biggest weekly gains in a month. The yield on its 10-year debt has fallen 100 basis points since Monday to 11.02% on Thursday.