Angola: Opposition UNITA party open to coalition of opposition parties after next week’s election

Angola’s UNITA is willing to form a coalition government with other opposition parties after elections next Wednesday if the ruling MPLA party loses power for the first time since independence in 1975, its presidential candidate said.

The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) won just 18 percent in the last election in 2012 and the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) won a landslide 72 percent.

But with Angola in the midst of an economic crisis caused by a fall in oil prices, the opposition is hoping to grow its tally.
UNITA is campaigning on a broad platform for change, promising to increase spending on education and health, combat corruption and open the economy to more investment.

“We need to have an opposition that is capable of stopping certain acts which constitute abuses of power,” UNITA President Isaias Samakuva told reporters on Tuesday, adding he would welcome working with the rest of the opposition.
When asked whether a coalition government made up of the main opposition parties was possible, Samakuva replied: “We don’t see any difficulty on our part in a situation of that nature.”

Such a coalition would be formed predominantly with Angola’s 2nd opposition party: Broad Convergence for the Salvation of Angola – Electoral Coalition (CASA-CE).

The party won 6 percent in 2012, at its first appearance on the ballot, but the few polls available suggest it should gain ground this time, attracting younger voters disillusioned by the 2 main parties that fought on opposite sides of Angola’s long civil war.

UNITA had western backing in the 27-year conflict that ended in 2002. The opposition is hoping to win votes because of a recent poor economic track record by the ruling party.

After years of oil-fueled growth that averaged 7.2 percent between 2003 and 2015, Angola slipped into recession last year with the economy contracting 3.6 percent, according to government data that was published online in April but later removed. Unemployment is over 20 percent.

Long serving Angolan president Jose Eduardo dos Santos will not be running in this election and will step down from office.
The MPLA has nominated Defence Minister Joao Lourenco as its presidential candidate.