Angola elections - no independent oversight, media bias

15 Sep 2008

Luanda: Angola's parliamentary elections on 5 September 2008, reportedly won by the ruling MPLA party, were marred by numerous irregularities, Human Rights Watch said today, 15 September 2008. Preliminary results indicate that the MPLA won more than 80% of the vote, the first held in Angola since 1992.

Key problems identified by Human Rights Watch include obstruction by the National Electoral Commission (CNE) of accreditation for national electoral observers, its failure to respond to media bias in favour of the ruling party, and severe delays by the Angolan government in providing funds to opposition parties. The evidence obtained by Human Rights Watch on these three key issues - observers, media bias, and state funding - suggests the polls did not meet the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections in key areas.

“With presidential elections due in 2009, Angola needs to reform the electoral commission so it isn't dominated by the ruling party and can respond effectively to election problems,” said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “If the electoral commission isn't reformed, there's a risk that Angolans and international partners could lose confidence in the country's fledgling democratic process.”

Human Rights Watch and international election observers found that voting day and the immediate pre-election period were largely peaceful, and all political parties affirmed having effective police protection for their rallies once the campaign was under way. In Cabinda, however - the oil-rich province where a separatist movement remains active - international observers told Human Rights Watch that the fragile security situation had prevented them from extending their mission to all parts of the province. There were also some violent incidents in former strongholds of the main opposition party, UNITA, in the rural areas of Huambo and Benguela.

“Providing adequate security for political parties is just one of the criteria for free, fair, and transparent elections,” said Gagnon. “Freedom of expression, equal access to the media, transparent funding of political parties, and independent oversight are just as critical.”

Ruling party grip on the state media

The Electoral Law provision that each party be allocated an equal amount of time immediately before the news bulletins on state radio and television to promote its campaign was respected and the state media did cover the campaigns of all parties. However, Human Rights Watch and other observers noted a disproportionate amount of air time devoted to the MPLA campaign during the news bulletins themselves. For example, on several occasions state television praised the government for rebuilding the country's infrastructure destroyed by the leading opposition party, UNITA, during the country's 26-year civil war.

On 3 September 2008, the last day of the election campaign, the state-owned Angolan Public Television broadcast footage of a woman weeping as she recalled how she had suffered due to UNITA during the war. She also accused the current UNITA leader Isaias Samakuva of lying when he said UNITA had changed since the war ended. This item bore no evident relationship with current news, and appeared to have been broadcast expressly to discredit UNITA.

As one state television journalist said to Human Rights Watch: “The MPLA in fact assaulted the state media. This has nothing to do with media work anymore.”

“The allocation of equal airtime to every party was rendered largely irrelevant by the clear bias in favour of the ruling party in the news broadcasts on state radio and television,” Gagnon said. “However, The CNE did not intervene to stop the preferential treatment that the state media gave to the MPLA.”