A brief by Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI) and Centro de Estudos e Investigação Científica (CEIC) Brief

April 2013 Volume 3 No.1

Controlling elections: The Angolan Election Commission

The election winner, President Over the last few years, Angolan legislation on elections and the Angolan national José Eduardo dos Santos, is received by his MPLA party election commission has been strengthened considerably. In legal terms the crowd in after the 2012 Comissão Nacional Eleitoral (CNE) is now an independent commission with wide- elections. ranging powers, that might pave the way for political reform and democratisation Photo: MPLA (www.mpa.ao) in Angola. However, due to the political context it remains to be seen if this formal autonomy will be translated into a counter-balancing institution to the centralised Angolan government. ELECTION COMMISSIONS WORLDWIDE demand of the opposition in many emerging Election commissions are important regulatory democracies; it was part and parcel of the bodies throughout the developing world. An demand for free and fair elections, respect for election commission (EC) is a governmental political rights, and democracy. Independent electoral management body (EMB) charged electoral commissions are in fact a relatively with overseeing the implementation of the recent invention, and the preferred form of election laws and procedures. In many countries election management in virtually all countries the commission is also charged with the that have undertaken electoral reform since the implementation of the elections proper. early 1990s.

An election commission is a special institution of ELECTION COMMISSION INDEPENDENCE control or restraint. In liberal democracies, the Many electoral management bodies purport horizontal accountability function of parliaments to be independent, but they are not. Election and courts (i.e. political checks and balances) commissions vary from tightly government- is complemented by a host of other state controlled institutions orchestrating massive institutions with a role in regulating, overseeing, system manipulation and election fraud in and preventing power abuse by the executive countries like Zimbabwe and Cameroon, to branch. Special institutions include electoral truly independent and powerful institutions commissions, auditor generals, ombudsmen, in countries like Benin and Ghana. Most Inge Amundsen central banks, and human rights commissions. commissions are, however, somewhere in the middle: a mixed, semi-autonomous government Senior Researcher Independent election commissions are usually body, which is contested, criticised, and under created as a part of a process of democratisation. pressure from incumbents and opposition An independent election commission was a main alike. Angola Brief April 2013 Volume 3 No.1 Controlling elections: The Angolan Election Commission

To be independent, This point is important: one should make a by yet another round of civil war from late clear distinction between commissions that are 1998 to early 2002. truly independent and those that are formally an election During this period, President dos Santos government and the ruling party. and the MPLA re-asserted their control over commission needs independent but decisively influenced by the the government to such an extent that both There is no clear-cut, universally accepted the GURN as well as the parliament became a guaranteed legal model of electoral management, and no subservient institutions. quantitative and internationally comparable statistics on election commission independence, In 2005, in expectation of new elections, status, procedures but there is some agreement on what is a number of laws were passed in order to required as a minimum. To be independent, regulate elections; the Electoral Law, the Law for a non-partisan an election commission needs a guaranteed on Political Parties, the Voter Registration legal status, procedures for a non-partisan Law, and the Election Observation Law. The nomination of (postponed) 2008 general elections were thus basis, and credible enforcement powers. conducted according to a thoroughly revised nominationThese fundamental of commissioners, principles area secure grounded financial in and extended legal body. commissioners, a international electoral standards and norms. The Angolan election commission, the secure financial In practice, this means that an independent Commissão Nacional Eleitoral (CNE) commission needs a constitutionally guaranteed was established through a provision of basis, and credible status, secure funding through the state budget, the Electoral Law in 2005. It became a and a procedure of nominating commissioners commission following the independent enforcement that is beyond the control of the executive. or autonomous model, i.e. it is an election In other words, an independent election management body in the form of a separate commission should be more dependent on ‘commission’ with oversight powers and a powers. the law (the judiciary) and the legislature permanent technical apparatus to handle (parliament) than on the presidency. the entire electoral process. It also includes ” commissions at the provincial and sub- ANGOLA’S ELECTION COMMISSION provincial level: Comissões Provinciais Angolan elections have been held under Eleitorais and Gabinetes Municipais Eleitorais. an increasingly sophisticated institutional The establishment of the CNE largely 1992 were held under an urgently and only emanated from above, from the MPLA framework.partially revised The firstconstitution. multiparty It didelections not provide in government’s wish to formalise, for any election commission, but one was institutionalise and ‘normalise’ the political established in a hurry in order to manage the game without losing control and without elections. This commission had a weak legal opening up for a possible government change mandate, and in practical terms the Ministry of after elections. The 2008 election result is an Territorial Administration and the provincial indicator of this; the MPLA won more than 82 governors managed the 1992 constituent per cent of the votes, well ahead of the main elections. opposition party’s 10 per cent and well above the 2/3 parliamentary majority needed to At the same time, these were the most contested make constitutional changes. ever. Manifestations, strikes, and heavy political activism made up a strong With its overwhelming majority, the MPLA domestic pressure for change, and the ruling government introduced and passed a new and rewritten constitution in 2010, which chances. Angolan NGOs and independent replaced the only partially reformed former MPLAprofessional was not associations confident about emerged, its electoral as did Constitution Law. Following this, more independent media. This energetic reform laws regulating elections were revised and period came to a halt soon after the elections, enacted, including the General Elections Law however, as did the reform process, because the in 2011, the Election Observation Law in 2012, opposition party (and army) UNITA could not and the Law on the Financing of Political accept electoral defeat and returned to armed Parties in 2012 (see text box). struggle.

Then, from 1992 until 1997, the National “elections are organised by independent, Assembly worked almost as the former Asadministrative the new 2010 bodies”, Constitution a new Lspecifiesaw on the that People’s Assembly, dominated by the MPLA. Establishment and Functions of the National The majority of the 67 deputies elected from Election Commission was also promulgated in UNITA only took up their seats in 1997, when a April 2012. With this, all election regulation new peace agreement formed a Government of is reformulated and renewed, with the National Unity (GURN) that also included UNITA exception of local elections (that has yet to be held). a determined and active National Assembly members.started to operateFor the firstin 1997, time but in Angola’s then only history, for a FORMAL INDEPENDENCE short period until the process was interrupted According to the ;

2 Angola Brief april 2013 Volume 3 No.1 Controlling elections: The Angolan Election Commission

according to the former law (the Electoral Legal Framework Law of 2005) and the current Law on the National Election Commission of 2012; and • LEI DOS PARTIDOS POLÍTICOS de 2005 (Lei Nº 2 de 1 de Julho 2005, Law on the Political Parties) statements, the Angolan election commission accordingis “independent”. to the CNE This website independence and other has, official • LEI DO REGISTO ELEITORAL de 2005 (Lei n.º 3 de 1 de Julho 2005, Voter however, been contested. Registration Law)

According to the 2005 Electoral Law, the CNE • LEI ELEITORAL de 2005 (Lei Nº 6 de 10 de Agosto 2005, Electoral Law) was to be an independent body but had to • LEI DE OBSERVAÇÃO ELEITORAL de 2005 (Lei n.º 11 de 22 de Março relate to a number of executive branch bodies, Election Observation Law including “consultations” with the Ministry of 2012, ) • CONSTITUIÇÃO DA REPÚBLICA DE ANGOLA de 2010 (Constitution of role of supervision and arbitration was given Angola of 2010, replacing the Constitutional Law of 1975 with the 1992 Territorialto the Constitutional Administration. Court. Besides, the final amendments) The new 2012 Law on the National Election • LEI DOS PARTIDOS POLÍTICOS de 2010 (Lei n.º 22 de 3 de Dezembro 2010, Law of the Political Parties, replacing law 2/05) Commissionindependent definesbody that the organises, CNE independence executes, • LEI ORGÂNICA SOBRE AS ELEIÇÕES GERAIS de 2011 (Lei n.º 36 de 21 de incoordinates more detail. and It conductsdefines the the CNE electoral as “an Dezembro 2011, Electoral Law, replacing law 6/05) administrative authority not integrated into • LEI DO FINANCIAMENTO AOS PARTIDOS POLÍTICOS de 2012 (Lei n.º 10 processes”the direct or and indirect specifies state that administration” it is “an de 22 de Março 2012, Law on the Financing of Political Parties, replacing and that it “enjoys organic and functional laws 3/97 and 7/02) independence”. • LEI DE OBSERVAÇÃO ELEITORAL de 2012 (Lei n.º 11 de 22 de Março 2012, Law on Election Observation, replacing law 4/05) established by law. The only current provision Thus,for supervision the independence of the CNE of liesthe CNEin the is fact firmly that • LEI ORGÂNICA SOBRE A ORGANIZAÇÃO E O FUNCIONAMENTO DA the CNE is “reporting to the Parliament on an COMISSÃO NACIONAL ELEITORAL de 2012 (Lei n.º 12 de 13 de Abril annual basis”. 2012, Law on the Establishment and Functions of the National Election Commission) According to the new law, the institution is also “a budgetary authority in itself”. Thus, members to be appointed by the parliament the CNE makes its own budget requirements, after nomination by the political parties, relative to their strength, and the nominees may not be approved by the parliament) can alter this. members of any government body (at any level) andThis only means the that state in budget Angola, process the law (finally not only or any political party or party coalition. establishes CNE’s legal independence, but also that it guarantees it a secure and independent The new law is thus quite different from the former. The executive has no longer any direct role in the nomination procedure. The judiciary financialAccording status. to the previous law, the CNE was nominates the leading commissioner, and the legislature elects the rest. That is, as parliament’s years. Two members were appointed by the nominations are according to the relative composedPresident of of the eleven Republic, members six by elected the National for five strength of the parties, the ruling party will Assembly (three by the ruling party and three still be dominant, and because the president by the opposition), one judge of the Supreme nominates most of the nominating senior judges, Court elected by the court, one representative of the Ministry of Territorial Administration, nomination of the CNE leader. and one member of the National Council for the executive will still be able to influence the Social Communication (CNCS; a media board). CNE CONTESTED Consequently, the President of the Republic One of the most discussed and contested effectively nominated the majority of the aspects of the CNE was the nomination of commission, because two were appointed Ms Suzana Inglês as president, and a whole directly by him, three were suggested by the series of interesting events took place after her ruling party (of which President dos Santos is nomination in 2010, that raised doubt about the the president), and one chosen by the Supreme independence of the commission. Court (whose judges are nominated by the President of the Republic). For one thing, Inglês was deemed too close an ally of President dos Santos to be truly impartial. Now, the composition of the current She was an MPLA member and a leading member commission is substantially changed with of OMA, the ruling party’s women’s group. the new law. It requires the commission Then, when Ms Inglês was re-elected in January to be composed of seventeen members, 2012, it became clear that she was not a judge all elected by the legislature except for the (magistrate) at the time of her appointment, commission president who is to be nominated as the law required, but a lawyer. Thus, her re- by the judiciary. The new law requires the election was criticised in all major newspapers, 3 The Angola Brief series is an output of the CEIC-CMI Cooperation Programme for research in social and economic issues concerning Angola. The series aims to contribute research findings and policy recommendations to enhance public debate in and about Angola. Author: Inge Amundsen. Editor: Aslak Orre and Alves da Rocha. Copy editor: Lisa Arnestad.

and even referred to in the state-run, ruling- Santos, at the same time as he was the MPLA party loyal newspaper. denied voting, like in 2008, despite the law. The opposition staged protests and UNITA candidate.This was due And to finally, a lack ofAngolans “human abroad conditions, were threatened to stage more mass protests in materials and logistics”, according to the CNE. Luanda and in the provincial capitals. Then, the opposition parties UNITA and PRS raised a The overall organisation of the CNE did not formal lawsuit against the nomination of Inglês. cause much discussion, however. The new law on the CNE was passed unanimously in by denouncing the critics, but as pressures parliament in April 2012, and Raul Danda, the Themounted, ruling the party ruling first party reacted backtracked, to this criticism and leader of UNITA’s parliamentary caucus, said the new law was “a valid instrument that made Inglês. The case was then brought (back) to the the CNE a truly independent organ” (Jornal de thejudiciary, Supreme which Court nominated nullified the the judge nomination André daof Angola 11 April 2012). And as soon as the new Silva Neto. commissioner was appointed in May 2012, the public debate on the CNE largely silenced. In this story, it is interesting to note the fact that the opposition took the case to court. And, it is INDEPENDENCE TO WHAT? even more interesting to note that this is one of Although the CNE is formally independent, the very few cases in which the Supreme Court one should note the fact that there is only a has heard a case raised by the opposition, and loose coupling between formal institutions and apparently ruled against the MPLA government. actual practice. Formally dependent institutions But also other issues regarding the CNE, its may be acting independently, and formally independent institutions may be intimidated, debated, without few consequences. thwarted, and neutralized in practice. decisions, and the ‘un-level playing field’ were One of these issues was the voter registration Angola is particularly predisposed to the procedure. The fact that the voter’s roll latter, because here rule of law is yet to be was made and revised by the Ministry of established. Angola is an authoritarian country, Territorial Administration led many to doubt according to the 2012 Democracy Index of the the independence and transparency of the Economist Intelligent Unit (IEU) and other process. In a press statement by UNITA after indexes. Therefore, although the CNE is formally the elections, the party claimed that “more independent, the commission has to operate than 30% of the electorate was selectively in a political context that is not conducive to deleted from the process through fraudulent special institutions of control and restraint. The manipulation of the electoral roll, through regulatory and political environment is working transferring thousands of voters to voting places against an independent CNE. far away from their homes, and because their names did not appear” (UNITA 10 September The true measure of independence of any 2012). public authority is in its decisions. The litmus test of the independence of the CNE was not the Another issue was the process of accreditation 2012 elections, because these elections were of international and national observers. This so clearly won by the incumbent ruling party was very slow, so most international observers and the government. The independence (or were deployed only a couple of days before the subordination) of the CNE will only manifest election. UNITA also claimed “more than 40% itself when the opposition is so strong that it of the list of UNITA observers were prevented poses a real challenge to the incumbent MPLA from supervising the elections, through the government and president. bureaucratisation of accreditation procedures that dragged on” (ibid.) In the meantime, the CNE will have another chance to demonstrate its independence when Yet another issue was the public media, and especially the public broadcaster TPA, which have ever been held in Angola, but are promised devoted a disproportionate amount of broadcast localfor 2015. elections are finally held. No local elections time to the public activities of President dos

CMI (Chr. Michelsen Institute) CEIC (Centro de Estudos e More information is available at the Bergen - Norway Investigação Científica) CEIC-CMI cooperation program website: Phone: +47 47 93 80 00 Universidade Católica de Angola www.cmi.no/angola E-mail: [email protected] Phone: +244 922 280 541 www.cmi.no E-mail: [email protected] ISSN 1892-3933 www.ceic-ucan.org