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


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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

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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

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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

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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