/ 13 December 2008

EU says Angolan poll lacked transparency

Angola’s parliamentary election results in September lacked transparency and were marred by serious organisational weaknesses, according to an EU observer report released on Friday.

The European Union observer mission criticised the county’s National Electoral Commission (CNE) for poor coordination and decision-making, which led to operational errors.

The report praised the high numbers of voters — nearly 90% of those registered cast a ballot — but questioned the validity of the figures, noting one province recorded an 108% turnout.

The September poll was the first held in Angola for 16 years, and followed the end of a long civil war which claimed half a million lives.

The ruling MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola) won 81% of the vote, while their long-time civil war enemies Unita (Union for Total Independence of Angola) won just 10%.

Despite months of preparation, the day of the vote was disorganised, with election material and staff failing to arrive at polling stations and voting had to be extended to a second day.

”There was a lack of transparency in the tabulation of the election results,” said the mission led by Luisa Morgantini, vice-president of the European Parliament.

Neither political party representatives nor observers were allowed to witness the entry of the results into the national computer system, which was done without a separate manual tabulation, it noted.

”There was no safeguard against ballot stuffing and no means of verifying the unexpectedly high turnout figures achieved,” the report said, adding that voters’ names were not checked against electoral lists.

The state television and radio was also criticised for heavy bias to the ruling party. The report called for a review of media law to allow private radio stations to broadcast nationwide.

Overall the EU noted the election ”represented a very important step in the strengthening of the democratic process in Angola” but urged reforms for the next ballot, expected in 2009 for the presidential race.

Recommendations included strengthening the impartiality and transparency of the CNE, while streamlining its structure for better decision-making and communication.

No one from the CNE was available for comment. – AFP

 

AFP