JOHANNESBURG — Angola’s ruling party has a large lead over the main opposition with votes from nearly two-thirds of polling stations counted, the election commission said Thursday, opening the way for Defense Minister Joao Lourenco to succeed President Jose Eduardo dos Santos after his 38-year rule.

The announcement followed a day of conflicting claims by the rival parties, which fought each other in a long civil war in the southern African nation that ended in 2002.

Provisional tallies showed the ruling MPLA party with 64 percent with nearly 6 million ballots counted from Wednesday’s vote, while the UNITA opposition party had 24 percent and a smaller opposition group, CASA-CE, had 8 percent, election commission spokeswoman Julia Ferreira said on live television.

The MPLA earlier Thursday claimed victory, saying partial results from its own tally indicated it had won a majority. UNITA disputed that claim.

The MPLA made its claim after reviewing data relayed by its delegates from polling stations nationwide, said Joao Martins, a senior official at the party’s headquarters in Luanda, the capital, according to the Portuguese news agency Lusa.

About 9.3 million Angolans were registered to vote for the 220-member National Assembly; the winning party then selects the president.

Associated Press