ANGOLAN ELECTION PREPARATIONS ON TRACK DESPITE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 LUANDA 000622 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR AF, AF/S, AF/PD; DRL; R STATE PASS TO USAID AF/S ELOKEN, IMCNAIRN C O R R E C T E D COPY (PARA 19 ADDED) E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/21/2016 TAGS: PGOV KDEM OVIP AO SUBJECT: ANGOLAN ELECTION PREPARATIONS ON TRACK DESPITE REGISTRATION EXTENSION LUANDA 00000622 001.3 OF 004 Classified By: A/S Frazer for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. Summary: A/S Jendayi Frazer reinforced USG interest in seeing elections occur in 2008 and 2009 according to GRA announcements and advocated that the GRA publish an electoral calendar so that all parties can fully prepare for the elections. In Caala, Huambo province, she was positively impressed with the efficiency and transparency of the voter registration campaign and with the USAID funded programs to strengthen NGO monitoring activities. A/S Frazer reassured opposition leaders that the USG understands opposition party concerns regarding limited access to media, lamented the proposed cut in the VOA Portuguese to Africa-service, and the insufficient number of registration brigades in less accessible areas which include many opposition strongholds. She assured them that we will work with the GRA, opposition and NGOs to support a level playing field for all parties. The media reported her pledge for continued U.S. support for the election efforts. End Summary. ¶2. (U) This cable covers election-related meetings and visits during A/S Jendayi Frazer,s May 31-June 3, 2007 visit to Angola. On May 31, 2007, A/S Frazer met with Edeltrudes da Costa, Vice-Minister for Electoral Issues in the Ministry of Territorial Administration (MAT),to discuss the Angolan electoral process and the recent decisions to extend to the voter registration period by 90 days and not to conduct an overseas registration process. On June 1st and 2nd, in Huambo province she met with representatives from the provincial Electoral Network NGO and visited a voter registration center and on June 3, A/S Frazer met with opposition party leaders. Economic-themed events and meetings; meetings on political and military issues; events highlighting bilateral assistance, including public-private partnerships, are reported in septels. Ambassador Frazer was accompanied by Ambassador Efird and a notetaker for each meeting and visit. Angolan Ambassador to the United States Josefina Pitra Diakite, and GRA staff, also attended all the meetings and visits with exception of the meeting with opposition party leaders. GRA Outlines Registration Progress and Challenges -------------- -------------- ¶3. (U) Vice Minister Da Costa first explained to A/S Frazer the role of the Inter-Ministerial Commission for the Electoral Process (CIPE),the body created to guide and manage the electoral process. Da Costa described the challenges of the voter registration process, namely the difficulty in deploying registration officials to more remote areas of the country. CIPE had anticipated infrastructural difficulties and landmine contamination, but these were exacerbated by this year's unusually heavy rainfall. Thus, da Costa explained, the government decided to extend the registration process by 90 days to capture yet unregistered voters. Though Angola's last census was conducted in 1970, the GRA has estimated that there are at least 7.5 million eligible voters in Angola. According to da Costa, 5.1 million people had registered as of May 31st. ¶4. (SBU) Da Costa emphatically stated that the extension would not delay the 2008 legislative elections, despite the opposition parties, worries to the contrary. A/S Frazer asked about plans to expand the reach of the media in rural areas in order to explain the electoral process and reduce suspicions of improper tampering during registration and future elections. Da Costa did not directly address media access to the provinces but replied that reaching rural voters was indeed a priority. He stated that the GRA had a strategy to work first in areas with high population densities and then expand outward during the dry season. ¶5. (SBU) He also touched on the previous day,s Council of Minister,s recent decision not to conduct voter registration overseas, stating that the GRA had concluded that it could not effectively monitor and control such a process at this time given difficulties in verifying overseas citizenship claims. According to da Costa, the political parties, who &already lack the capacity to effectively monitor the registration process in Angola,8 also would be challenged to monitor registrations conducted overseas. A/S Frazer asked if Angolans living overseas could come to Angola to register and later to vote, and da Costa assured her that any Angolan citizen who wants to register and to vote will be allowed to, but they must come to Angola to do so. GRA Regulating NGOS? -------------- ¶6. (SBU) A/S Frazer then pressed da Costa for information on the GRA's efforts to regulate NGOs. Da Costa replied that LUANDA 00000622 002.3 OF 004 the international community had misinterpreted the GRA efforts with the NGOs. He said the GRA views NGOs as key to the serious work of civic education. Da Costa elaborated that the GRA had identified civic education as a major challenge since much of the electorate still fears elections due to the failed electoral process in 1992. CIPE considers the religious community and national and international NGOs to be key social partners in the process. He described government statements as being directed only against opportunistic and unqualified local NGOs who might try to enter the election field in attempts to secure international funding. &We are serious about civic education and want to work with competent NGOs,8 he added. High Marks for Voter Registration in the Field -------------- - ¶7. (U) In Caala, Huambo Province, A/S Frazer visited a voter registration tent and observed an Angolan register. Powered by a small generator, the center uses computers and high tech equipment to generate laminated voter cards which include biometric data and a picture. The registration brigade leader explained the process to the A/S, identifying the various work stations where prospective registrants present their identification documents; have their picture taken; submit fingerprints for digitalization, and the final station which pops out a finished product. The brigade leader explained to the A/S that he had received three-months training prior to the start of the registration period which encompassed computer training, classes in electoral registration laws and procedures, and even some classes on how to treat customers and service delivery. ¶8. (U) Also at the center, a registration monitor from the provincial Election Network NGO explained his task to the A/S. Using a check sheet, he observes and records whether the brigade leader explains the process to registrants; whether the registrant has appropriate documentation or witnesses to establish citizenship, etc., verifying the major steps of the process. In a meeting with NGOs in Huambo, the A/S was able to speak to the Election Network provincial president at length on the registration process. In response to her questions he detailed some of the inconsistencies that the Network had noted at various times, but he also noted that when these irregularities were brought to the attention of the local authorities they were corrected. The Election Network was appreciative of the extensive training and support it had received through the USAID-sponsored National Democratic Institute (NDI) election program in Angola. Opposition Voice Concerns Over Delays, Brigade Deployment and Lack of Media Access -------------- -------------- ¶9. (U) In a Sunday morning round-table with most of the major opposition leaders, A/S Frazer explored their concerns on the registration process, including transparency and access to media. She expressed the importance the USG places on talking to the parties participating in elections and the USG commitment to ensure that the elections are successful and the playing field fair. A/S Frazer relayed her positive impression of the voter registration center in Caala, noting the standards were as high as anything she had seen in the United States. ¶10. (SBU) UNITA President Isaias Samakuva (to whom all the others deferred),opened the discussion by expressing the importance all the opposition parties place on meeting with high-ranking USG officials, noting that the USG has more access to the ruling government than the opposition does. He acknowledged the quality of the modern registration system, but noted some serious opposition concerns about the distribution of brigades. In a point echoed and supported with examples by PDP,s Sediangani-Mbimbi, FNLA,s Ngola Kabango and PRS,s Eduardo Kuangana, Samakuva said that more brigades have been deployed to areas of MPLA support than to areas known to support opposition parties. Kuangana said that in Lunda Norte (a PRS stronghold) only three of the planned nine brigades have been deployed and they have only collected registrations in MPLA areas. Szediangani presented the A/S with PDP pamphlet accusing the GRA of gerrymandering the registration process. ¶11. (SBU) Samakuva, with input of all parties, also voiced concerns that the mechanism in which data was transmitted from the field to the centralized data system via diskette downloads rather than over the internet had caused problems with some data having gone missing. He also noted that registration information was not made available to the parties as it was collected; instead the parties will be left with the Herculean task of verifying each of the estimated LUANDA 00000622 003.3 OF 004 7.5 million registered voters, records for accuracy during the one-month verification period following the close of the registration period. ¶12. (SBU) FNLA,s Kabanga also stated that the dialogue between the CIPE and the political parties had become &almost a battle.8 He suggested that despite the GRA,s assertions of an open and healthy dialogue between CIPE and the parties, it was more of a government monologue. Luis de Nascimento, FPD President, touched on the lack of opposition access to the press. Noting that only the government-run newspaper, television and radio have national coverage, he said the press is transmitting a message that there are no alternatives to the MPLA, only referring to the opposition parties when there are scandals involved. He said the opposition parties have been denied access to venues for party meetings, for example the FPD reserved and paid for a conference room one week only to be told days later that unexpected reconstruction needs would render the space unavailable for FPD,s use. Ngola Kabango also voiced concerns of the Voice of America,s planned reduction of the Portuguese to Africa service. ¶13. (SBU) All Parties expressed concerns that the schedule of brigade deployment was not advertised to the opposition parties and thus made it difficult for the parties to ensure opportunity for their monitors to observe the registration. In addition, the party presidents all worried that the extension of the registration period would lead to other delays and ultimately postpone elections from 2008 to another year. USG Committed to Supporting Elections -------------- ¶14. (SBU) A/S Frazer thanked the group for its detailed presentation on the challenges. She said that regarding the distribution of brigades the USG would work to track the number and see how things are going across the country. She said this was something the USG had been able to accomplish successfully in the Liberian elections. At the same time, she charged the opposition leaders to work together to map the locations of brigades in order to address these weaknesses before the end of the extension period. A/S Frazer also suggested that the head of the DRC,s electoral commission, Father Malu, be invited to come to Angola to share its experience with collecting registration information and computerizing the database. She fully understood and believed legitimate the opposition parties, concerns for a centralized database with multiple back-ups. ¶15. (SBU) A/S Frazer assured the group that she had raised the need for an electoral schedule and firm date for elections in every meeting with GRA officials. She also told them of MIREX Minister Miranda,s and MAT Vice Minister da Costa,s assurances that the extension of the voter registration period would not jeopardize legislative elections occurring in 2008 and presidential elections in ¶2009. Both Samakuva and Kabango reiterated the group,s true desire to see elections in order to legitimize the government, but they also stressed their need to be able to prepare for elections by knowing when they will occur. ¶16. (C) On party capacity and funding, A/S Frazer noted that most ruling parties do have an advantage. She elaborated that it is especially difficult at the beginning of a democratic process and thus it is best if the opposition parties can work together as a coalition to take on the ruling party. She assured the group that the USG would continue to push the GRA on developing the implementing regulations to the laws governing access to the media. A/S Frazer said that she too was very concerned about VOA,s proposed cut in the Portuguese service to Africa and this subject was already under discussion in Washington. She said she recognized the potential impact of such a cut on media coverage of elections for Angolans. Cabinda: Who is Observing the Peace? -------------- ¶17. (SBU) In a final question, Luis de Nascimento voiced concern that there were no official observers to the implementation of the August 2006 Cabindan Memorandum of Peace and Understanding and asked what information the U.S. embassy had on the subject. Ambassador Efird replied that the Embassy tracks this as closely as possible through our visiting delegations and contacts with local NGOs and religious groups. She said we do still hear reports of acts of abuse but that most independent observers have told us the numbers of these events have been reduced significantly, especially as FAA troops have been moved to bases away from LUANDA 00000622 004.3 OF 004 villages and population centers. Ambassador Efird also voiced her concerns that some organizations based in Cabinda have not yet renounced violence and that some reports suggest that conditions in the areas of concentration of Ex-Flec forces are not adequate. Comment: Opposition Growing More Unified -------------- ¶18. (SBU) Embassy Luanda has observed that over the past year the major opposition parties are working more closely together and developing a more unified front when meeting with USG representatives. We note that the ruling party MPLA was invited to participate but did not send a representative. In addition, one of our normally active opposition party participants ) and the only female party president ) Analia de Victoria Pereira of the FLD was outside Angola on medical treatment and thus did not participate. Embassy Luanda will work with the CIPE and national Election Network to help verify brigade deployment in the provinces. ¶19. (U) A/S Frazer has approved this cable. EFIRD