by Richard Nyamanhindi – SANF 08 No 58
The first group of election observers from southern Africa has arrived in Angola to observe the parliamentary elections scheduled for 5 September and deployment to the provinces has begun.
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 Angola National Electoral Commission (CNE).
SADC Executive Secretary, Tomaz Salomão, said the regional observers were arriving in groups.
“We have 100 observers as we speak. Some came on 22 August and others are arriving in the next few days. We are expecting at least 200 observers or more. The number is increasing everyday,” said Salomão.
The SADC executive secretary added that as has become practice in Member States that are holding elections, the SEOM to Angola will be working under the auspices of SADC, in line with the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections.
Angola goes to the polls early September with more than 14 political parties contesting the legislative election and according to the CNE, a total of 5,198 candidates will be contesting for the 220 parliamentary seats.
Meanwhile, an Election Observer Advance Team that consists of technical staff from SADC Member States was deployed in Africa’s largest oil producing nation at the beginning of August to prepare the ground for the SEOM.
The head of the technical team, James Machakaire said, “It was after that preliminary assessment that we were able to determine the number of observers needed and informed the member countries to nominate their observers.”
According to Machakaire, the SEOM to Angola will be led by a minister from Swaziland after the country took over the chair of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation from Angola at the 28th SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government held in South Africa from 16-17 August.
The regional bloc has been quite visible in Angola, working flat out to ensure that the electoral process conforms to regional standards as spelt out in the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections.
Last year, a strong SADC delegation was in Angola for the voter registration mission to assist the country prepare for the landmark election.
Stakeholders have already called for peace before, during and after the September poll with the Angolan Mass Media Institute urging the press to be objective, responsible and impartial in their reporting.
No serious claims of intimidation or violence have been reported so far, signalling a peaceful campaign.
Other African observer groups invited include the African Union (AU), and the Pan African Parliament (PAP).
Of the international organisations that have already deployed their observer teams include the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN). The EU begun deploying its observer team on 13 July ahead of the official campaign rallies, which kicked off at the beginning of August.
The EU is one of the many international organisations invited by the CNE to send observers to oversee the scheduled September parliamentary polls.
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 the main opposition National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (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.
UNITA will take part in the September polls together with the ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) party and other smaller parties.
In a recent state of the nation address, Angolan President, Jose Eduardo dos Santos said parliamentary elections would be held every four years and called on Angolans to respect the democratic process and make the country an example to Africa and the world.
“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 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.
