VZCZCXRO2056
RR RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHLU #0622/01 1721345
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 211345Z JUN 07  ZDS ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY LUANDA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4085
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY

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