Africa Society of the National Summit on Africa (Washington, DC)
20 May 2008
document
The following are the prepared remarks for the speech delivered by Josefina Pitra Diakité, the Ambassador of Angola to the United States, at the Conversation and Dinner with African Ambassadors hosted by the Africa Society in Washington DC on 20 May 2008.
Good evening,
Honorable Richard Lugar, Honorable Donald Payne, Excellencies, dear colleges, Ladies and gentlemen,
Let me start by thanking Africa Society and the co-hosts, the Honorable Senator Richard Lugar and Honorable Congressman Donald Payne for making this event possible. I congratulate you for this great initiative, which constitutes an opportunity to discuss matters of common interest and deepening relations between the US and Africa in general, in this case, Angola in particular.
Special thanks go to my friend Bernadette Paolo for organizing and coordinating The National Summit on Africa Conversation and Dinner with African Ambassador Series.
It is a pleasure to take part in this forum to share information about my country, with such distinct participants and friends. I am confident that this event will contribute to a better understanding of the current political and economic reality in Angola, as an additional building block in strengthening our relations.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Angola is a post-conflict country and the signing of the Peace Agreement on April 4, 2002 represented a watershed change in the life of all Angolans, giving the possibilities of returning to their places of origin, resuming regular activities, and reuniting with family¸ neighbors and friends.
Angola continues to be influenced by the history of protracted civil war. The personal stories of most Angolans are dominated by memories of war-associated loss and insecurity. An important part of this collective memory is having had expectations of peace dashed when the 1992 elections triggered a return to violence.
Angola today enjoys a unique moment in its history. The destructive armed conflict, which left deep scars in its productive and human structure, which hindered Angola's social and economic development for almost four decades, angolans finally found in 2002 the path that leads to Peace and Security: two fundamental requirements for sustained development. Conditions now have been established in Angola to continuously build – on a solid foundation – a democratic state based on rule of law and a strong and sustainable economy.
Over the past three years, the Angolan government has taken concrete steps in preparation for elections. The issue of timing the elections needed more in-depth considerations. The timetable of the government of Angola includes various, stages, such as:
1. Relocation of Internally Displaced People
More than two million internally displaced persons, approximately 50 percent of the originally displaced population, have returned to their areas of origin or to resettlement sites.
The Government succeeded in reintegrating 100,000 former UNITA soldiers and more than 300,000 family members.
Also, 360,000 of the 450,000 Angolan refugees from the neighboring countries have been repatriated.
2. Demining:
Land mines have been one of the government's top priorities in the post-conflict era. The maiming of innocent people, which hinder the free movement of people and goods is critical for the electoral process as well as economic development. As proof of its commitment, in 2001, the government created the Inter-Sectoral Commission on Demining and Humanitarian Assistance (CNIDAH) to be responsible for policy-making, coordination of mine action and victim assistance, and the design of a new National Mine Action Plan.
3. Legal basis
An important electoral legislation package was passed by the Angolan National Assembly, which includes the electoral law, the law on political parties, the political parties funding law, the electoral registration law, the law of electoral observer as well as, the law on right of access to the media focusing on time allocation and the law on national code of broadcasting services.
4. Electoral Bodies
The National Electoral Commission (NEC) was appointed and charged with monitoring the electoral process and ensuring its integrity according to the law. The NEC has eleven (11) widely respected members, is chaired by a Judge from Supreme Court Justice and includes representatives from the ruling party, opposition parties, and the Government. Local units of the NEC have been set up in every province and most municipalities.
The Inter-ministerial Commission for Electoral Processes (CIPE) was also been established, to create logistical and operational conditions for NEC to implement the electoral process, and is overseen by the Ministry of Territorial Administration.
The registration period is coming to a close. The process was expected to register 7.5 million voters, but to date 8.5 million voters are registered. The current and last phase is, expected to register about 350.000 more voters.
Parliamentary elections are scheduled to take place in September 2008 and presidential elections in mid 2009. President Jose Eduardo dos Santos reafirmed recently that conditions are now in place for the country to hold efficient, fair and transparent elections.
In order to avoid the unfortunate aftermath of 1992 elections, which led to the tragic return to war, that caused psychological trauma of associating elections and war among the population, guided the Government in its carefully approach toward the preparations of the current electoral process, which includes actions such as, to name a few:
Have technical consultations with electoral officials of other countries.
Closely monitoring election awareness trough civic education programs.
The Presidents appeal for tolerance and civil debate.
Providing accurate information for the public, with the assistance of the national media in close cooperation with the political parties, local traditional and religious authorities and other social partners.
Civil disarmament and destruction of weapons. The Ministry of Interior is conducting a campaign do disarm the civilian population, a process which, is going quite well.
Training and capacity building programs for electoral officials at the national, provincial and community level.
On political front, I would like to underscore that democracy is a process, so, organization of any electoral process is a complex process for any post-conflict country, particularly Angola in facing interaction of competing interests represented by the agents of the state, political groupings, and the multitude of formal and informal relationships and intermediary organizations of civil society. While the ultimate success of the process depends on the good will and ability of these forces to communicate with each other, it is ultimately the responsibility of the state to provide the overall framework, within which, these interactions take place and the implementation resources.
Despite this complexity, I am proud to reiterate that my Government is strongly committed to the forthcoming national elections, as a unique opportunity to deepen the democratic process in keeping with the periodic constitutional legitimization of power.
Recent economic developments
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have referred specifically to elections-related areas of progress, but there is much more. The growth of the economy and the reconstruction efforts are success stories in their own right.
Angola is a country with vast natural and human resources and great potential for economic development and prosperity. Now, after six years of the end of a devastating civil war with a span of nearly four decades, Angola is beginning to rebuild its tattered infrastructure and institutions.
Angolans faces the future with optimism. Fears have dissipated, tensions have been reduced, and peace has fostered hope for angolans to fulfill dreams they could not have dreamt of before. The new era has finally, ushered the country into a position to exploit the tremendous potential of its natural and human resources - which affords it to have reconstruction as a priority.
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