...EU Monitors Arrive in Angola Ahead of Election By VOA News 12 August 2008
European Union monitors have arrived in Angola to observe the country's first parliamentary elections in 16 years.
The 40 EU observers touched down in Angola Monday to prepare for the September 5 voting. An additional 50 observers are expected to come to monitor the election process.
Ten parties and four coalitions are competing to fill 220 seats in Angola's National Assembly.
This will be Angola's first election since the end of the country's civil war six years ago.
Elections were held in 1992, but the rebel National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (known as UNITA) renewed the war after losing at the polls.
President Jose Eduardo dos Santos has promised legislative elections every four years. Presidential elections are scheduled next year.
Angola has held only one other election, in 1975, after winning independence from Portugal. !!!
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