Preliminary results of the Angolan elections are expected Saturday.

The tally from Friday's vote is expected to extend the 33-year rule of President Jose Eduardo dos Santos and his MPLA party.

The MPLA won the last election four years ago with 82 percent of the vote, trouncing its former civil war foe UNITA and other parties.

The two parties fought a 27-year civil war after Angola won independence from Portugal in 1975. This is only the second election since the war ended in 2002.

The election will appoint 220 lawmakers and the leader of the winning party is chosen president.

The final results are expected next week.

Since Mr. dos Santos came into power, Angola has become Africa's second-largest oil producer. However, large numbers of Angolans remain unemployed and locked in poverty.