SADC: Angola vote free, peaceful

2008-09-07 14:34

Luanda - The historic first post-war elections in Angola were transparent and credible, the head of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) observer mission said on Saturday.

"The SADC mission congratulates the people of Angola on peaceful, free, transparent and credible elections which reflect the will of the people," SADC mission chief John Kunene told a press conference on the second day of voting in Angola after a chaotic start on Friday.

The elections are widely expected to enable the ruling left-wing Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) party of president Jose Eduardo dos Santos to retain its grip on power in Africa's leading oil-producing nation.

Angola's main opposition party Unita (Union for the Total Independence of Angola), which already denounced the run-up to the vote as unfair, announced on Saturday that it plans to contest the results.

The independent observers from the southern African regional bloc acknowledged that there had been some hiccups.

"The delays in the opening of the poll in some polling stations... caused a lot of frustration for the voters. Some felt they might not be able to exercise their civil rights," Kunene said.

But according to the SADC mission, "the people of Angola have been able to express their will".

The vote "will go a long way to the consolidation of democracy and political stability not only in Angola but also in the SADC region and the African continent", he added.

- AFP