Country Trend Analysis: Angola

Country Trend Analysis: Angola

Angola is a country with a bright future starting to form on its horizon. After decades of war it is starting to emerge as a democracy with a rapidly growing economy. The country plans to have legislative elections in September of 2008, and Presidential elections are scheduled for 2009. Even after its violent history, Angola is truly emerging as one of the few stabilizing countries of Africa.

Colonial economic development did not translate into social development for native Angolans. The Portuguese regime encouraged white immigration, especially after 1950, which intensified racial problems. As decolonization progressed in other African countries, Portugal, under the Salazar and Caetano dictatorships, rejected independence and treated its African colonies as overseas provinces. As a result, three independence movements emerged: the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) led by Agostinho Neto, with a base among Kimbundu and the mixed-race intelligentsia of Luanda, and links to communist parties in Portugal and the East Bloc; the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), led by Holden Roberto with an ethnic base in the Bakongo region of the north and links to the United States and the Mobutu regime in Kinshasa; and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), led by Jonas Malheiro Savimbi with an ethnic and regional base in the Ovimbundu heartland in the center of the country and links to the People's Republic of China and apartheid South Africa. From the early 1960s, elements of these movements fought against the Portuguese. A 1974 a coup d'etat in Portugal established a military government that promptly ceased the war and agreed, in the Alvor Accords, to hand over power to a coalition of the three movements. The ideological differences between the three movements eventually led to armed conflict, with FNLA and UNITA forces attempting to wrestle control of Luanda from the MPLA. The intervention of troops from South Africa on behalf of UNITA, and the MPLA's importation of Cuban troops in November effectively internationalized the conflict. After retaining control of Luanda, the coastal strip, and increasingly lucrative oil fields in Cabinda, the MPLA declared independence on November 11, 1975, the day the Portuguese abandoned the capital. UNITA and the FNLA formed a rival coalition government based in the interior city of Huambo. Agostinho Neto became the first president of the MPLA government that was recognized by the United Nations in 1976. Upon Neto's death from cancer in 1979, Planning Minister JosÐ"© Eduardo dos Santos ascended to the presidency. The FNLA's military failures led to increasing internal divisions and abandonment by international supporters. An internationalized conventional civil war between UNITA and the MPLA continued until 1989. For much of this time, UNITA controlled factions of the interior and was backed by U.S. resources and South African troops. Similarly, tens of thousands of Cuban troops remained in support of the MPLA, often fighting South Africans on the front lines. A U.S.-led agreement resulted in withdrawal of foreign troops in 1989 and led to the Bicesse Accord in 1991, which spelled out an electoral process for a democratic Angola under the supervision of the United Nations. When UNITA's Jonas Savimbi failed to win the first round of the presidential election in 1992 he called the election fraudulent and returned to war. The UN Security Council voted on August 28, 1997 to impose sanctions on UNITA. The Angolan military launched a massive offensive in 1999, which destroyed UNITA's conventional capacity and recaptured all major cities previously held by Savimbi's forces. Savimbi then declared a return to guerrilla tactics, which continued until his death in combat in February 2002. On April 4, 2002, the Angolan Government and UNITA signed the Luena Memorandum of Understanding, which formalized the cease-fire that prevailed following Savimbi's death. In accordance with the Memorandum, UNITA recommitted to the peace framework in the 1994 Lusaka Protocol, returned all remaining territory to Angolan Government control, quartered all military personnel in predetermined locations, and relinquished all arms. In August 2002, UNITA demobilized all military personnel, and the UN Security Council sanctions on UNITA were lifted on December 9, 2002. UNITA and the MPLA held their first post-war party congresses in 2003. (Collello 23-54)

The government is based on ordinances, decrees, and decisions issued by a president and his ministers or through legislation produced by the National Assembly and approved by the president. The Assembly is generally subordinate to the executive. Angola is governed by a president who is assisted by a prime minister and 31 cabinet ministers, all appointed by the president. Political power is concentrated in the presidency. The executive branch of the government is composed of the president, the prime minister, and the Council of Ministers. The Council of Ministers, composed of all government ministers and vice ministers, meets regularly to discuss policy issues. The president, the Council of Ministers, and individual ministers in their areas of competence have the ability to legislate by decree. Of the 220 deputies in the National Assembly, 130 are elected at large, and 5 are elected to represent each of the 18 provinces. The Electoral Law also calls for the election of three additional deputies to represent citizens living abroad; however, those positions were not filled in the 1992 elections. The ruling MPLA controls 59% of the Assembly's seats. On December 27, 2007, President dos Santos announced Angola will hold legislative elections on September 5-6, 2008, its first since 1992. The announcement follows a voter registration process that registered over 8 million Angolans. Presidential elections are planned for 2009, with municipal elections to follow. A parliamentary constitutional reform process will likely resume following elections. The central government administers the country through 18 provinces. Governors of the provinces are appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the president. The government has initiated a program of decentralization, and in August 2007 the Council of Ministers passed a resolution to grant 50 municipalities control of their own budgets. The legal system is based on Portuguese and customary law but is weak and fragmented. Courts operate in only a fraction of the 164 municipalities. A Supreme Court serves as the appellate tribunal. Recently, the Supreme Court has acted as a Constitutional Court. (Angola)

Daily conditions of life throughout the country mirror the inadequate administrative infrastructure as well as weak social institutions. Government support for social institutions is