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FM AMEMBASSY LUANDA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3596
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LUANDA 000031 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/11/2017 
TAGS: PGOV PREL SOCI PINR KWMN AO
SUBJECT: ANGOLA: POLL SHOWS SUPPORT FOR GOVERNMENT AND 
ELECTIONS 
 
REF: 06 LUANDA 1298 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Cynthia Efird for reasons 1.4 (b)(d). 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Angolans support the government's economic 
performance and plan to participate in elections, according 
to a recent International Republican Institute (IRI) poll. 
Poll results indicate a clear electoral advantage and public 
support for the ruling MPLA party, but also show possible 
areas of weakness on which opposition parties could develop 
campaign strategies.  Opposition parties focused on results 
that seemed to fly in the face of popular perceptions, 
refusing to accept the validity of key data indicating weak 
support. END SUMMARY 
 
¶2. (U) IRI, in conjunction with the Angolan polling firm 
Consulform, surveyed 3,678 citizens in 12 provinces from 29 
June - 06 September 2006.  Polling was conducted by personal 
interviews in Portuguese and key native languages.  Topics 
included economic well-being, government performance, 
elections, and political parties.  Fifty percent of 
respondents were between ages 18-29 and were not of voting 
age in the 1992 elections.  Twenty-nine percent of 
respondents were employed by the government.  Sixty percent 
described themselves as comfortable or upper middle class and 
19 percent completed high school; both statistics are well 
above the national average.  Complete survey results are 
available at 
 
http://www.iri.org/africa/angola/pdfs/2006-12 -06-Angolan-Poll.ppt. 
 
ECONOMIC GROWTH GETS APPROVAL BUT ANGOLANS WANT TO VOTE 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶3. (U) According to poll results, 73 percent of respondents 
believe that the country's economic development is going well 
and that their lives are going to improve.  Fifty-nine 
percent indicate that their personal economic situation is 
"the same" or "more or less the same" since 2002.  Sixty-four 
percent rate either unemployment or poverty as the major 
problem facing the country, yet 91 percent of respondents 
stated that the government has done an excellent or good job 
in addressing these problems.  While 34 percent expect quick 
resolution to economic problems, 64 percent believe problems 
will only be resolved in the long term.  Fifty-four percent 
feel that immigration trends are bad or very bad. 
 
¶4. (U) The poll showed that Angolans are upbeat about future 
elections.  While 79 percent plan to vote and 58 percent 
believe elections will be very important for the country's 
future, only 23 percent believe elections could improve 
socio-economic conditions.  Eighty-five percent believe that 
some level of democracy exists in the country and 90 percent 
think elections will be free and fair, but 53 percent of 
those respondents believe there will still be "some" or 
"major" problems with elections.  Forty-five percent say they 
are not members or sympathizers of any political party.  Of 
the 12 percent who say they do not plan to vote, 55 percent 
report that "no party has convinced them" or that "no party 
has a concrete or good program," 22 percent are afraid of 
what could happen after elections, and four percent believe 
that elections won't change anything.  Only three percent of 
all respondents fear that the elections may lead to violence. 
 
NOTE: The majority of polling was completed before the voter 
registration campaign was announced on August 30, 2006. END 
NOTE. 
 
CONTRADICTORY RESULTS CREATE CONTROVERSY 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) The electorate has some very strong opinions that 
reflect opposition to current law or policy.  An overwhelming 
79 percent believe that provincial citizens should elect 
their own governor, rather than the current practice of 
nomination by the President.  Sixty percent want concurrent 
presidential and legislative elections, which flies in the 
face of the recent Conselho da Republica recommendation to 
hold separate elections (see reftel). 
 
¶6. (C) Poll results listed the Police as the most trusted 
institution to resolve problems of the population.  This 
contradiction of popular perception and the 2004 IRI poll, 
where police were the least-trusted institution, led to 
questions on poll methodology.  The response might be 
understandable if security had been polled as a pressing 
concern, but only three percent noted crime or violence as a 
major problem.  Opposition parties seized this and other 
specific results in order to question the poll's overall 
validity.  While conceding that the poll did contain valuable 
information, UNITA spokesperson Adalberto Costa Junior 
specifically cited this data in questioning the validity of 
 
LUANDA 00000031  002 OF 002 
 
 
poll results and the impartiality of respondents in a 
conversation with P/E chief. 
 
OPPOSITION PARTIES FACE UPHILL BATTLE 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (C) In data not publicly released, an overwhelming 
majority of respondents indicated they would vote for the 
MPLA in legislative elections.  IRI reported that UNITA and 
other major opposition parties did not directly challenge 
them on poll results, but did encourage them to do additional 
polling.  In a private meeting with IRI, UNITA President 
Isaias Samakuva "didn't bat an eye" when told of his party's 
poor showing.  Adalberto Costa Jr. also told P/E chief that 
UNITA has been doing its own polling, with dramatically 
different results.  IRI's meeting with nine small opposition 
parties was far more contentious, with some attendees openly 
questioning the poll's validity and methodology.  The MPLA 
did not reply to IRI's request for a meeting, but was given a 
copy of the presentation. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Opposition parties are clearly facing a challenge. 
Forty-eight percent of respondents indicate their preference 
for incumbents over challengers.  Fifty-seven percent receive 
election information from the media and a majority of 
respondents listed TV and radio as their primary news 
sources.  Only 12 percent claim to get information from their 
party.  Given the lack of independent Angolan TV stations and 
the monopoly of government radio outside the capital, the 
opposition will be challenged to spread its election message 
outside of Luanda.  Creating platforms around key issues such 
as unemployment and poverty and engaging the 56 percent who 
claim to have little to no interest in politics, people 
without party affiliation, and those who say that no party 
has convinced them to vote may become campaign strategies for 
opposition parties.  Of note, 51 percent of respondents said 
they would vote for a female candidate, though few parties 
have high level female representation. 
 
LOST IN THE SHUFFLE 
------------------- 
 
¶9. (C) COMMENT:  The release of the poll during the MPLA's 
50th anniversary congress and immediately prior to end of 
year festivities doomed it to little or no media coverage. 
Moreover, the press conference called to launch the poll 
results was organized at the last minute and featured 
representatives from opposition parties, but not the MPLA. 
Tensions between IRI and Consulform over the interpretation 
of poll results resulted in Consulform's absence from the 
press conference, which was noted and questioned by 
participants.  The press conference was ill-served by the 
poor translation of the speaker's remarks and audience 
questions.  Spinning out of the control of IRI organizers, 
attention focused on specific questions such as support for 
the police, rather than key issues such as strong voter 
support for elections. 
 
¶10. (C) Opposition parties have understandably tried to shift 
attention away from evidence of their weak showing, possibly 
in hopes of discrediting the poll rather than shouldering the 
burden of adopting new campaign strategies and techniques and 
facing the fact that they have a long road ahead of them. 
Even the MPLA, clearly favored by the results, has resisted 
touting the poll as a result of the controversy.  IRI is now 
reassessing its roll-out strategy of the poll at the 
provincial level to avoid similar problems. END COMMENT 
EFIRD