Angola preparing to hold fair election in 2012: President
Lisbon, 29 Dec – (ANA) - Angola is preparing the necessary legal mechanisms to hold a well organised, transparent and fair parliamentary election in late 2012, President Jose Eduardo dos Santos said on Wednesday.
The election will be only the third in oil-producing Angola after it gained independence from Portugal in 1975, Dos Santos said in an end-of-year speech broadcast by state TV channel TPA, monitored by Reuters in Lisbon.
Angola's political parties earlier this month reached a deal on a new electoral law, ending months of negotiations over who will organise the election.
The main opposition party UNITA had previously accused the MPLA of trying to control the election by stripping the National Elections Committee of power and eroding its independence.
Dos Santos, who has held power since 1979, did not confirm whether he would lead his ruling MPLA party in a re-election bid, though last month he signalled he would run by saying he was ready for any mission his party selects for him. (ANA)
FA/ANA/29 December 2011----------