Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Luanda (Agenzia Fides) - Angola's main opposition party, UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola), has conceded defeat in the parliamentary elections on September 5 (see Fides 8/9/2008), won with ample margin by the MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola), the party of President Dos Santos, which obtained 82% of the votes counted (80% were counted). European Union analysts, following the Africans, have declared the elections to be authentic.
According to various international observers, the voting outcome is not only a good sign for the presidential elections of 2009, but it will also strengthen the international profile of the current Angolan leaders, especially in light of the positive results of the national economy. The growth of the Gross National Product is 15-16% per year and the foreign industries are competing to invest in the country. So, Luanda is preparing to play the leading role in southern Africa, in competition with South Africa, whose image has been recently tainted by the wave of xenophobia against African immigrants (see Fides 20/5/2008) and for the criticism of the “weak” position of the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe.
The Zimbabwean crisis has been a catalyst in the change of events. In addition to the already mentioned considerations, the change has come as a result of the weakness of South African President Thabo Mbeki, whose intents to find a solution to the Zimbabwean crisis have proved ineffective, and whose leadership has entered into crisis after Jacob Zuma, his rival, won the position of head of his party, the African National Congress.
Angolan President Dos Santos, after the parliamentary vote, has a wide margin in which to work, thanks as well to Angola’s ties to the Portuguese-speaking countries, especially with Brazil, which is an economic giant with growing presence in Africa. Dos Santos also established an alliance with the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Joseph Kabila, and recently formed a Permanent Commission with the DRC to regulate off-shore oil-rigging. The deposits in the waters of Congo and Angola (in the enclave of Cabinda) are in fact adjacent.
From this strong position, Dos Santos is placing pressure on those concerned in resolving the Zimbabwean crisis. South Africa and Angola seem to be in agreement in making Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change, the leading opposition party), add an accord establishing division of powers with 84 year-old Mugabe. With this in mind, Mbeki traveled to Harare (Zimbabwe’s capital) to mediate between the contenders. On August 29 of this year, Mugabe, Tsvangirai, and Arthur Mutambara (leader of a group that broke off from the MDC) met with Mbeki in Pretoria, South Africa. They reached an accord for establishing a government of nation unity between Mugabe as President and Tsvangirai as Premier. However, there were some discrepancies as to division of powers. The opposition wanted those of Mugabe to be more or less symbolic, but this idea was rejected by the President who has been in office since 1980. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 9/9/2008)
