27 September 2008
analysis
Washington, DC — "Election free and fair, sort of," was the headline from the UN's Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) news service after Angola's long-awaited parliamentary election early this month. The news service notes that its stories do not represent the position of the United Nations, and there was no official United Nations observer team. But the comment was an accurate summary of the consensus of observers from Africa and Europe.
In Angola's last election, in 1992, for which I served as part of a multinational observer team organized by the U.S.-based International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES, http://www.ifes.org), official and unofficial observers reached roughly the same conclusion. In fact, judging by reports from Angola this time, the 1992 election was probably better organized and more transparent than the one this year, 16 years later (see my op-ed in the Christian Science Monitor, Nov 3, 1992, http://www.africafocus.org/editor/csm9211.php)
The war resumed after that 1992 election and raged for a decade, but finally concluded after Jonas Savimbi died in fighting with government troops in 2002. This time, UNITA, despite criticizing bias in the election process, accepted the results. Angolans do not expect a return to war. The oil-driven economy is booming.
Although Angola gets relatively little attention in the news, it is 2nd only to Nigeria among African oil producing countries, and ranks 6th among suppliers of oil to the United States, behind Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Venezuela, and Iraq. Angola may rise even higher among oil producers as projected new fields go on-line.
Nevertheless, neither democracy nor prosperity is at hand for the majority of Angolans. The gap between rich and poor continues to widen, even if the oil revenue inflow is large enough that trickledown does have some effect on the majority,
This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains a brief post-election news report from IRIN; excerpts from a reflective analysis by Bob van der Winden, a close observer and supporter of grass-roots Angolan civil society organizations and independent media, as well as former program director of the Netherlands Institute for Southern Africa (NiZA); and excerpts from the most recent Africa Peace Monitor from Action for Southern Africa in London, including elections results by province.
For previous AfricaFocus Bulletins on Angola, see http://www.africafocus.org/country/angola.php
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AfricaFocus Book Notes: Recent Books on Angola
Patrick Chabal and Nuno Vidal, The Weight of History. 2007
Analytical essays on past & present by top experts.
http://www.africafocus.org/books/isbn.php?0231700156
Karl Maier, Promises and Lies, 2nd edition, 2007
More on past than present, but still the best-written and bestinformed journalistic account
http://www.africafocus.org/books/isbn.php?1897959524
Assis Malaquias, Rebels and Robbers, 2007
The political economy of violence in post-colonial Angola
http://www.africafocus.org/books/isbn.php?9171065806
Tony Hodges, Anatomy of an Oil State, 2nd edition, 2003
Solid analysis and data.
http://www.africafocus.org/books/isbn.php?0253216788
For more books on Angola, see
http://www.africafocus.org/books/afbooks.php#ang1
Authors include William Minter, Basil Davidson, Piero Gleijeses, Pepetela, Marissa Moorman
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Angola: Election free and fair, sort of
Luanda, 9 September 2008 (IRIN) - Angola's main opposition party, UNITA, has conceded defeat in last week's parliamentary elections, after initially demanding a fresh ballot over allegations of poll irregularities.
The former guerrilla movement said "it was not possible" to say the elections had been free and fair, as voting had been extended for an unscheduled second day after 320 centres across the country failed to open on time on 5 September, and in locations where there had been problems with the supply of ballot papers.
UNITA also alleged that people had been allowed to vote without proper identification.
But in a news conference on Monday, held shortly after the national electoral commission had dismissed its complaints, UNITA leader Isa¡as Samakuva said he accepted the outcome of the poll and praised the incumbent MPLA party, hoping it "governs in the interest of all Angolans".
"After about 80 percent of valid votes have been counted, despite all that has happened, the leadership of UNITA accepts the results of the elections," Samakuva said. Other opposition parties echoed UNITA's acceptance of the outcome of Angola's first elections in 16 years.
As the counting process continues, the MPLA holds a huge lead, scoring close to 82 percent of the vote to UNITA's 10 percent. If the MPLA manages to win a two-thirds majority in the 220-seat assembly, it will have the power to change the country's constitution as it sees fit.
International election observers, while accepting the result, have criticised aspects of the poll. An African Union team said although it was free and fair, the MPLA had benefited from unfair access to the state-dominated media. The European Union noted problems with the organisation of the election, but concluded that people had clearly voted massively for the MPLA.
The US Embassy congratulated Angolans "on their participation in this important step in strengthening their democracy" but noted the procedural problems encountered with the ballot, and hoped valuable lessons would be learnt for Angola's future polls, beginning with next year's presidential elections.
Angola, independent in 1975, struggled with 27 years of civil war until a peace agreement was signed with then UNITA rebels in 2002. The oil-rich country is now one of the world's fastest growing economies.
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Angola: Elections 2008
Bob van der Winden
[Excerpts. For full text, and for the paper mentioned in the first paragraph, see http://www.bwsupport.nl/main/index.php?page=New]
I spent August 2008 in Luanda, Angola's capital. First participating in a seminar where we presented for civil society and politics the book Sociedade civil e pol¡tica em Angola (edited by Justino Pinto de Andrade and Nuno Vidal, and with an article on Civil Society of David Sogge, Ren‚ Roemersma and me). Later delivering two workshops on communication and presentation for small Civil Society Organizations and people from Development Workshop, an Angolan NGO of Canadian descent, that commissioned the workshops.
Life is slightly improving ...
Downtown Luanda is booming: everywhere building of skyscrapers is going on, roads are repaired and traffic is a nightmare: I've seen more new 4x4's than anywhere else.
The good news is indeed that even in the poorest parts of the city (the musseques) life is little by little becoming a bit better for people. The family I described in A family of the musseque (1996) and which I visited again, so many years later, has now after 20 year finally access to electricity in their neighborhood. Also 3 instead of 1 members now have jobs in the formal economy.
[A Family of Musseque is available in a downloadable pdf on-line at http://www.bwsupport.nl/docs/angola.pdf - 8M, including full-color phographs; it is available for purchase at a discount at
http://www.africafocus.org/books/isbn.php?1872142338]
A feudal, rather than a failing state ...
The bad news is that Angola is still an (African) feudalist state, more resembling the Netherlands in the beginning of the 20th century than now. The centuries of the colonial and decades of Marxist (One-party-state) system have instilled a culture of fear, of 'the winner takes all' in all people, including those of the ruling party. The contrasts are unbearable:
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