VZCZCXRO6639
PP RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHLU #0615 2211530
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 081530Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY LUANDA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4956
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS LUANDA 000615 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
PASS TO USAID/IMCNAIRN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM AO
SUBJECT: CIVIL SOCIETY ANNOUNCES ELECTION OBSERVATION PLAN 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: In a July 25 press conference, the NGO 
Plataforma Eleitoral (Electoral Platform) announced its plan 
for civil observation of the September 5 legislative 
elections.  The Plataforma plans to deploy 2,623 civil 
society observers on election day, providing electoral 
observation in all 18 provinces and in 54% of Angola's 163 
municipalities.  As civil society observation was not 
permitted in the failed 1992 elections, the Plataforma's 
efforts are viewed as an important building block in the 
construction of a credible, transparent electoral process, as 
well as an important learning experience for Angola's largely 
nascent civil society.  END SUMMARY 
 
Observation Methods: Deep, not Wide 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) The Plataforma, a national umbrella organization for 
election-related NGOs in all 18 provinces, built on lessons 
learned while monitoring the electoral registration process 
to develop the electoral observation plan.  With the support 
of the USAID-funded National Democratic Institute (NDI), the 
Plataforma worked to create a feasible and realistic plan, 
given the limited financial means of its member NGOs and 
logistical constraints faced in the provinces.  Key 
logistical hurdles include a) the lack of transportation in a 
country in which few own cars or motorbikes and most rural 
roads are unimproved or unusable due to landmine 
contamination, and b) communication, as the majority of rural 
areas are not covered by the oversubscribed and notoriously 
unreliable cell phone network, and only provincial capitals 
are connected to equally unreliable landlines. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Rather than overly stretch its limited capacities in 
what it hopes is the first of a series of election 
observation efforts, the Plataforma has planned deep, rather 
than wide, coverage for these elections.  Its 2,623 observers 
will cover 88 (54 percent) of Angola,s 163 municipalities. 
702 observers, or 26 percent, will be used in Luanda alone, 
as Luanda represents the largest single slice of the 
electorate.  Observers will stay at one polling station from 
opening to closing and take note of issues such as the 
atmosphere around the polling stations, setup of the voting 
stations and conduct of electoral officials, and attempts to 
influence voters.  While the Plataforma's volunteers will not 
conduct exit polls, it is exploring the possibility of 
conducting a small pilot program of parallel vote tabulation 
(PVT) using a limited number of volunteers, in order to study 
the feasibility of conducting PVT on a wider scale in the 
Presidential elections currently slated for fall 2009 and 
local elections planned for 2010 or 2011.  The organization 
is also experimenting with various means of transmitting 
information, such as text messages with information that can 
then be plugged into a central national database. 
 
Additional Challenges: Recruitment and Training 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Additional challenges include the recruitment and 
training of observers; as the only other election in Angolan 
history were 16 years ago, many potential observers have 
never actually participated in or seen an election.  In order 
to create a standardized observation techniques, the 
Plataforma, in coordination with the National Democratic 
Institute (NDI), is implementing a "train-the-trainer" 
training plan at the national, provincial and municipal 
levels.  A team of Plataforma supervisors and NDI consultants 
will visit training events to ensure standardization. 
 
¶5. (U) NDI's funding, training and technical assistance for 
the Plataforma is made possible by funding from USAID's 
Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening 
(CEPPS).  Other donors include the EU, DFID, Spain, and 
Norway. 
 
¶6. (SBU) COMMENT: The Plataforma faces clear organizational 
and operational challenges in this effort, but its leaders 
are motivated by the important role played by civil society 
observers in Zimbabwe's elections.  While the Plataforma 
would like to provide more extensive coverage for Angola's 
upcoming race, neither the national organization nor its 
provincial counterparts (known as the "rede eleitoral", or 
electoral network) has the funding for, or even more 
importantly, the human capacity to effectively execute such 
an operation.  By showing it can successfully a smaller-scale 
observation effort this go around, the Plataforma can then 
look to expand operations for future elections.  END COMMENT 
MOZENA