Un Special Representative declares Angolan elections 'generally free and fair.' (United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Angola Margaret J. Anstee)(includes related information on the UN Angola Verification Mission)

The first-ever multi-party presidential and parliamentary elections held in Angola were certified - "with all deficiencies taken into account" - on 17 October as "generally free and fair" by Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Angola Margaret J. Anstee.

The electoral process, organized and directed by the National Electoral Council, was observed by the United Nations Angola Verification Mission (UNAVEM II) and supported by technical assistance from the UN Development Programme.

Results of the elections - held on 29 and 30 September - gave 49.57 per cent of the vote to Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos who heads the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and 40.07 per cent to Jonas Savimbi, President of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). The remainder were divided among nine other candidates.

Under Angola electoral rules, if a candidate received more than 50 per cent of the vote, he would be declared the winner. But if no candidate obtained a majority, the two top contenders would compete in a run-off.

In the parliamentary elections, the governing MPLA party received 53.74 per cent, with UNITA getting 34.10 per cent.

In her 17 October statement following the official announcement of the election results by the National Electoral Council, Ms. Anstee noted that the electoral campaign had been conducted without major violent incidents.

As a result of complaints by the Angolan parties that there had been widespread, massive and systematic irregularities and fraud during the entire electoral process, four commissions, established by the Electoral Council, investigated the allegations and such matters as the consistency of polling records, the security of ballot boxes, the control of surplus electoral kits and supplementary polling stations, she said.

Following the investigations, Ms. Anstee said the UN considered that, "while there were certainly some irregularities in the electoral process, these appear to have been mainly due to human error and inexperience".

There was no conclusive evidence "that the irregularities were of a magnitude to have a significant effect on the results", she added. "Nor, in view of their random nature, could it be determined that such irregularities had penalized or beneffited only one party or set of parties".

The UN urged all Angolans, including all political leaders, to respect and support the results of this stage of the electoral process, Ms. Anstee stated. A further certification would be made after a second round of presidential elections, she said.

Results contested

The voting process comprised four phases: registration, from 20 May to 10 August; electoral campaign, from 29 August 28 September; actual voting, on 29 and 30 September; and ballot counting, complaint investigation, and announcement of results, on 17 October.

An ad hoc commission of the Security Council was sent to Angola from 11 to 14 October to support implementation of the Peace Accords, after reports reached the Council that one of the parties to the Accords was contesting the validity of the elections. The Council decided on 6 October to send the commission.

Welcoming the commission's contribution to reducing tension in Angola and "to finding a solution to the difficulties that arose after the elections", the Council on 19 October called upon the parties to abide scrupulously by all the commitments entered into within the framework of the Accords, in particular with regard to the demobilization of their troops and the formation of the Unified Armed Forces, and to refrain from any action that could increase the tension.

Council members said they looked forward to Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali's recommendations on the contribution of the United Nations to ensuring the completion of the presidential elections.

In September, prior to the elections, recognizing that Angolans had reached a crucial and very delicate stage in their peace process, the Secretary-General sent messages to the Angolan President and UNITA, emphasizing the "critical need for determined and unequivocal leadership" in order to stem the recent spate of violent incidents and to instil confidence in the populace that the results of the elections would be respected.

Mr. Boutros-Ghali said the Government and UNITA had to complete urgently some major unfinished tasks, including full control of the national territory by the central administration.

The Secretary-General appealed for "leadership at this critical juncture" by the two leaders, asking them to ensure that their followers acted "with restraint and tolerance".

Attempts by the main political parties to gain electoral advantage at any expense could "all too easily endanger the peace process", he said. All political parties must pledge to respect the results of the elections, as verified by UNAVEM II. The electoral arrangements had been implemented by the Angolan parties themselves.

Campaign concern

On 18 September, the Council, in a statement by its President, endorsed the Secretary-General's appeal to the two leaders and affirmed its conviction that the electoral process was irreversible.

Concerned at the deterioration of the political and security situation in Angola, Council members called upon the parties to take urgent steps to complete certain essential measures for holding free and fair multi-party elections, including demobilization of the remaining troops of the Government and UNITA, the collection and centralized storage of weapons, and the rapid completion of the formation of the new National Angolan Armed Forces. It was also essential, they said, that the police should operate as a "neutral, national force".

The Council said it was encouraged by reports of positive decisions reached by the two leaders at a 7 September meeting, in particular their reported agreement in principle to form a government of national reconciliation after the elections.

In his 9 September report (S/24556), Mr. Boutros-Ghali congratulated Angola for maintaining its UN-invoked cease-fire for 15 months and for its success in registering the great majority of its adult population for the elections.

Some 4.86 million voters - nearly 90 per cent of the estimated adult population - had been registered, he stated.

On the eve of the elections on 28 September, Special Representative Anstee urged further demonstration of leadership, restraint and tolerance by the leaders of the major parties.

Largest UN airlift

To bring thousands of registered voters from remote areas to polling stations during the elections, the UN undertook in the second half of September the most extensive civilian helicopter airlift of people in its history. Forty 20-passenger helicopters and nine fixed-wing aircraft were deployed in an operation costing an estimated $10 million.

On 1 October, Special Representative Anstee in a statement said that the great majority of Angola's registered voters had cast their votes in "peaceful and orderly" conditions.

"They turned out to cast their ballots in towns and remote villages spread over a devastated country nearly the size of Western Europe and, as they did during registration, once again showed extraordinary determination, patience and discipline, often waiting hours to cast their vote", she said. Thus, Angolans demonstrated a "civic responsibility and dignity worthy of emulation by any country".

The Council on 6 October called upon all parties to respect the obligations they had assumed under the Peace Accords, especially respect for the final election results. Any challenge must be settled through the mechanisms established for that purpose, it said.

Following an 8 October meeting with the Secretary-General in New York, Angolan Foreign Minister Pedro de Castro Van Dunem "Loy" told reporters that the Ad Hoc Commission's mission to Angola was an important sign that the UN was continuing to back the country's efforts towards democratization.

The Commission left New York on 9 October for Luanda, the Angolan capital. During three days of meetings with, among others, the Angolan and UNITA Presidents, South African Foreign Minister R. F. Botha, Ms. Anstee and officials of the National Electoral Council, the Commission underscored the importance of full implementation of the Peace Accords, including upholding the integrity of the electoral process.

The Commission noted with grave concern the increase in the acts of violence and the rising level of tension in Angola, and appealed to its people and all parties to safeguard the peace that they had achieved after years of devastating war.

The Commission was satisfied with assurances of the leaders of the two main parties to take every possible step to prevent violence in the country, and to restore and consolidate further the unified Angolan armed forces, which, it said, should be done "expeditiously".

Any resumption of armed confrontation would meet with the international community's strongest condemnation, it stressed. "Only in peace can Angola achieve democracy and prosperity."