LUANDA, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Angola's ruling MPLA party appears increasingly dominant in the campaign for the first national election in 16 years while opposition groups complain they are being marginalised.
Oil-rich Angola hopes the Sept. 5 parliamentary election will strengthen its democratic credentials as the country of almost 17 million emerges from civil war as one of Africa's fastest growing economies.
A strong enough showing by the ruling party could allow the MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola) to increase the simple majority it has in the assembly to the two-thirds of seats it needs to be able to change the constitution.
"It seems clear to me that the MPLA will retain or increase its majority in parliament," said Alex Vines, the head of the Africa Program at London-based think tank Chatham House, who was present in the country's first elections in 1992.
The main opposition UNITA party, from the faction that lost the civil war in 2002, tries to draw voters in the rural areas.
Another 12 small political parties have limited their campaigns to small gatherings around Luanda, offering music, free beer and promises of a better future.
But the momentum evidently lies with the MPLA, whose young supporters speed down the narrow streets of the capital Luanda day and night, dressed in red and black and waving the party flag.
Political and financial muscle leave the MPLA, in power since Angola's independence from Portugal in 1975, in a comfortable position to lure most of the country's 8.3 million eligible voters and retain or increase its 129 seats in the 220-seat parliament.
MEDIA BLITZ
State-owned media herald government promises.
"Government to build 2,000 new homes per year," reads a front page headline in state-owned Jornal de Angola. Next to it is a picture of President Jose Eduardo dos Santos and another story on a campaign gathering by the ruling MPLA party.
But even privately-owned Semanario Angolense ran editorials with the headline: "10 reasons why people should vote for the ruling MPLA party."
State-owned broadcaster TPA provides five minutes of air time a day for each of the 14 parties. But it also broadcasts hour-long programmes on government achievements -- drawing complaints from some quarters.
"There is a clear violation of Angolan law that prohibits the government from promoting itself through the state-owned media," said Fernando Macedo, a law professor at Luanda's Lusiada University.
"In the end the MPLA will have a lot more air-time than all the other parties as a whole and this will obviously influence the final result of the election," he added.
Opposition parties are crying foul.
"Its shocking," Isaias Samakuva, the leader of the main opposition party UNITA, told Reuters. "But the Angolan people are smart enough to read between the lines. They know that life isn't as pink as what the government portrays on television."
Angola's economy has registered double-digit growth in the last six years on the back of record oil exports and Chinese loans to rebuild its roads, bridges and communications. It rivals Nigeria as Africa's top oil producer.
But Angolans, by many indicators, remain as poor as ever. Almost 70 percent of Angolans live on less than $2 a day and many still lack access to clean water or electricity.
Smaller parties like the Liberal Democratic Party, which has three seats in parliament, complain that the $1.2 million they received from the state to campaign against the MPLA in a country twice the size of Texas is simply not enough.
"The MPLA is using all the government means available, including military airplanes, helicopters, boats and trucks to carry out its propaganda," Analia Victoria Pereira, the president of the Liberal Democratic Party, said.
"On top of that it also uses up most of our time during television and radio newscasts."
The election is seen as a dry-run for a presidential election next year. President Jose Eduardo dos Santos is expected to win as the MPLA candidate in the same year that he completes 30 years in power.
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