Angola's long march to peaceful elections

SOMBE, Angola -- The last time Arminda Evaristo cast a ballot, the war came back. Sixteen years ago, when she was 20, she voted in the national election that was supposed to transition the country out of nearly two decades of civil war -- a war in which Evaristo saw her grandmother decapitated by vengeful rebels.But the two parties in that fight -- the Popular Liberation Movement of Angola (MPLA) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) -- could not agree on the election results and within weeks, the war had returned, more brutal than ever.Soon Evaristo and her husband, Moises Juliao, like millions of other refugees, were forced to flee on foot with their children from their small farm in the interior of the country, seeking shelter in this seaside town, which was under firm government control. They were nearly killed a dozen times in that four-month journeyBut on Friday, Evaristo and her husband lined up again at a polling station, and cast ballots in the first elections in 16 years. Eight million Angolans -- half the population -- have registered to vote in an election that is seen as sealing the country's transition to a new future.Angola today is in many ways almost unrecognizably different from the country it was in 1992: There has been peace for six solid years. The economy is expanding faster than any other in the world, with growth last year at 23 percent (riding the back of some of the globe's richest oil fields and untapped diamond mines). There is an orgy of rebuilding here -- bridges, roads, schools and clinics. The MPLA and UNITA are today fully demobilized political movements waging their campaign with posters and T-shirts. International election observers have been given the run of the land.Evaristo said she sees the differences, but is nevertheless nervous. "The country today is very changed -- but then, last time we thought peace was here to stay, too," she said. "We hope this time is different. But we are poor people. We are like the nails on the ends of fingers: We are just taken where the hand goes."Once again, this time, the vote itself seems likely to be uneventful -- the larger question is about the changes that may, or may not, follow it.The 30-day campaign period has been almost unmarred by violence (opposition parties report three deaths in acts of voter intimidation; the MPLA government denies them). Election day is also expected to be calm, and the vote transparent.Yet watchdog groups say the election will nevertheless be far from fair: there are many documented incidents of the MPLA doling out bicycles, motorcycles and other goods to woo voters.While all parties (there are 14 competing this time) were given five daily minutes on state television, and 10 on radio, the rest of the time went to the government, whose flag, and colors, are virtually indistinguishable from the MPLA's. President Eduardo Dos Santos spent nearly every day of the campaign opening a clinic here, a road there -- all of them built with state funds -- but surrounded by crowds in MPLA T-shirts, waving party flags."This violates the constitution and the electoral law and it's electoral corruption," said Fernando Macedo, president of the Association for Justice, Peace and Democracy. "The only daily paper, the only radio station with national coverage and the only TV channel are partial to the MPLA -- it is truly very bad that this kind of behavior is taking place."The blinding flurry of reconstruction, and the stability of the past six years, combined with the shady campaigning, is expected to persuade a majority of voters to return the MPLA government to power."The people recognize what the MPLA is doing for them -- we brought the country peace," said Rui Luis Falco Pinto de Andrade, director of the Ministry of Information and Propaganda. "We stabilized the economy and we are rebuilding the country."The party hopes to obtain a two-thirds majority, which would give it control of parliament when a new constitution is drawn up next year -- a way of ensuring that Dos Santos, 66, who has held the title of president for 30 years, and his coterie keep their hands on the controls of the oil business.But UNITA leaders hope that disenchantment with the ever-more-wealthy rulers may boost the opposition party's presence in the legislature."This is a rich country whose resources are benefiting a few -- that's why it's called the richest country with the poorest people," said Jardo Muekalia, UNITA's national campaign co-ordinator. He said that happens elsewhere, and he wants to end it in Angola.(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)