Angola opposition want fresh polls

  1. Posted on Saturday 6 September 2008 - 02:01
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    Kent Mensah and Joseph Appiah-Dolphyne, AfricaNews Editors in Accra, Ghana, Photo: Sam Seifei
    Four opposition parties in Angola want fresh polls held after chaos erupted in some parts of the country during Friday`s Parliamentary elections - the nation`s first in 16 years. They contend that ballot control was inadequate and many people were prevented from voting. Polls have officially closed.
    Angola_Sam_Seyffert_Luanda3
    Turn out was impressive as most Angolans were voting for the first time since the end of the civil war in nearly three-decade. Many polling stations especially in the seaside capital Luanda, experienced a chaotic start but tempers calmed down afterwards.

    The main opposition party – UNITA – has described the polls as a sham. “The process has collapsed,'' Isaias Samakuva, president of UNITA told AFP. He said a new vote was the only solution.

    "What we want is the cancellation of this election," added Sindiangani Mbimbi, who leads the Party for Development, Progress and National Alliance of Angola (PDP-ANA).

    "For us, this election has been a political theatre... We wanted a credible and peaceful process where all the parties would have equal chances, but in this type of bad joke all the rules have been trampled on."

    226 seats are up for grabs as 10 political parties battle for a place in Parliament. Results are not expected to be released for at least a week, the Reuters news agency reported.

    Setbacks

    "We have been waiting for 16 years (for this vote) and now we won't have to wait another 16 because elections will happen every four years now," Maria Bernadeth Fransico, a woman in her fifties, said.

    Six years on from a peace deal which ended a 27-year civil war that killed 500,000 people, millions remain mired in poverty despite rocketing growth brought about by the country's huge oil and diamond reserves.

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