by Richard Nyamanhindi – SANF 08 No 61
Post-war economic reconstruction and equitable distribution of oil and diamond revenue have become the main campaign issues ahead of Angola’s 5 September parliamentary poll, the first since 1992.
Angola has more than 8.6 million registered voters who are expected to elect the country’s parliament whose tenure will run for the next four years.
As many as 110 political parties are registered in Angola but only 14 of them, including the ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the main opposition National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita), have been cleared by the National Electoral Commission (CNE) to contest the poll.
The contesting political parties have fielded more than 5,000 candidates who are jostling for the 220 parliamentary seats in the country’s 18 provinces.
Campaigning officially kicked off on 5 August and is due to end on 4 September.
The economy, particularly oil and diamond revenue, is a key campaign issue, which most candidates have been using to promise the electorate an equitable share once they are elected into parliament.
Angola is Africa’s fastest-growing economy largely due to a major oil boom, but is still lowly ranked on the continent based on most socio-economic indicators. Despite abundant natural resources, and rising per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Angola was ranked 30 out of 52 African countries on the 2007 African Development Bank economic index.
The country’s real GDP growth rate was estimated at 21 percent for 2007. However, more than 50 percent of Angola’s population is still living below the poverty datum line, a situation that was aggravated during the 27-year civil war that ended in 2002.
The rapidly expanding petroleum industry has reached the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) threshold, producing approximately two million barrels per day (bpd) and earning the country US$11 million daily.
Angola’s crude oil production is the highest in Africa after overtaking Nigeria in May this year.
Diamonds also make up most of Angola’s remaining exports, with yearly production at 6 million carats. Diamond sales reached approximately US$1.8 billion in 2007 and most of this money has been invested in infrastructure, which was damaged during the 27-year civil war.
However, opposition parties argue that the generality of Angolans have not directly benefited from the oil and diamond wealth and its citizens will remain poor unless a more equitable approach to development is adopted.
The ruling MPLA, however is arguing that it has succeeded in stabilizing the economy since the end of the war in 2002, creating employment and reducing inflation in the process winning back confidence of the major multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
With the economy doing well, many political analysts have predicted that the ruling party will be in a better position to dominate parliament in this week’s poll.
In the last decade of the colonial period, Angola was also a major agricultural exporter. However, because of severe wartime conditions, including extensive laying of landmines throughout the countryside, agricultural activities came to a near standstill, and the country now imports over half of its food.
In light of these developments in the economy, different candidates from both the big and the small parties have been promising a revival of the agricultural and mining sector after the de-mining process was completed three years ago.
Angola’s ruling MPLA party for example launched its campaign with a promise to further rebuild the country’s infrastructure, adding on to what it has achieved so far.
“We have initiated the process of national reconstruction throughout the country,” the MPLA’s secretary-general, Julião Matéus Paolo, told supporters in the capital Luanda.
But “the MPLA will never be satisfied with the current achievements,” he said, reaffirming pledges made by President Jose Eduardo dos Santos to build one million new houses across the country, roads and railways.
Angola last went to the polls in 1992. The elections were, however, aborted after the first round of voting when Jonas Savimbi, the late leader of Unita, alleged that there had been widespread vote rigging.
This led to the resumption of what was already a protracted civil war, which only came to an end in 2002 following the death of Savimbi.
In a recent state of the nation address, Dos Santos said parliamentary elections would be held every four years and called on Angolans to respect the democratic process and make the country a good example.
“Angola can be an example to the African continent and to the world in general on how to hold democratic, free and transparent elections,” the president said.
While the 5 September poll will choose representatives for parliament, the presidential poll is set for 2009.
Angola’s parliamentary poll will be the second major legislative election in the SADC region this year, following the 29 March harmonised election in Zimbabwe.
At least 100 election observers from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Election Observer Mission (SEOM) flew into Luanda on 22 August and were dispatched to the different provinces with the assistance of the CNE.
