Bmario De Paiva
11 April 2008
Luanda — Although the parliamentary elections in Angola are not due until September, the ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) has started campaigning.
Speaking during celebrations to mark the signing of the peace treaty between the government and rebels of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita) six years ago, the information secretary at the MPLA's political bureau, Norberto Kwata Kanawa, said last week the party was "testing how receptive the masses were to its message, taking into account the September parliamentary and next year's presidential elections.
The meeting was held in Bocoio, a village in the coastal province of Benguela where Unita, the main opposition party, has great influence.
The main speaker, hardliner Gen Kundy Painhama, blamed Unita for the war that devastated the country, adding that the party was smuggling in weapons and encouraging violence.
However, he refuted claims that the MPLA was showing increasing intolerance to dissent and said it was time for national reconciliation and unity.
But Unita's parliamentary leader, Alcides Sakala, said national reconciliation and unity could not be achieved due to increasing intolerance on the MPLA's part.
The September parliamentary polls are largely expected to be a two-horse race between the MPLA and Unita, although the country has 98 registered parties.
Each party has received $75,000 (Sh4.5m) from the government to monitor the elections, but many are expected to disappear after the elections due of lack of support and internal divisions.
Indeed, the well-known National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), which won five seats in 1992, is already experiencing fierce internal disputes and might have difficulty fielding candidates in the parliamentary elections.
The Party for Social Change (PRS), which surprised many people in 1992 by winning seats in diamond-rich provinces, is also torn apart by disunity.
Also facing similar problems is the Front for Democracy (FpD), a small but active party with influence among intellectuals, teachers and urban dwellers.
Meanwhile, churches, especially the dominant Roman Catholics, have been calling for peace and reconciliation, even as the ordinary rural folk continue to be apprehensive of the elections, fearing they might lead to violence.
NGOs, which are actively involved in civic education, say such fears are widespread, amid claims of citizens being intimidated or forced to surrender their voters' cards to ruling party officials.
Still, nobody seems to want a return to war. The authorities have begun a nationwide campaign to disarm civilians, a rather difficult task, given the size of the country and range of weapons in use.
Dr Nelson Pestana, an academic, says the many guns in civilian hands, the desire for revenge, authoritarianism, militarism and a culture of violence, ethnic differences, huge social gaps, high levels of poverty, unemployment and limited access to education have created apprehension about the election.
Despite these fears,, voter registration was surprising successful, with more than eight million people registered.
But ordinary citizens remain skeptical about the foreseeable future, as evidenced by their contributions to the popular Catholic radio station, Ecclesia, on Wednesdays.
"Speeches on April 4 were empty with regard to national reconciliation because violence and political intolerance are spreading across the country," a caller said.
Nevertheless, things have largely returned to normal. At least 410,000 Angolans have been repatriated and over 3.9 million internally displaced people resettled during the six years of peace.
Social Welfare minister João Baptista Kussumua told the press that economic stability and reconstruction of the infrastructure have enabled the country to return to normal.
Indeed, the country is undergoing massive reconstruction, with buildings coming up in practically every corner of the capital, Luanda, and roads and bridges being built in the rural areas.
Thanks to its access to the country's oil revenues and the boom in public spending since 2005, the MPLA can mount a powerful campaign to retain power. These resources will make it easy for the party to co-opt smaller parties in the presidential race, and as things stand, there it little to prevent President Jose Eduardo dos Santos and the MPLA from retaining power.
Given the steady increase in oil prices, and with the country's production close to two million barrels per day, economic growth is expected to continue, according to international financial experts.
Ironically, 68 per cent of Angolans live below the poverty level, with 28 per cent of them living in abject poverty, according to the most recent data from the United Nations Children's Fund.
Meanwhile, dozens of luxury condominiums worth millions of dollars are coming up on the outskirts of Luanda, neighbouring huge slums where thousands of hawkers and street children struggle to survive. The paradox of having nothing amid plenty is a way of life in Angola.
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