CVI 0.00% 0.3¢ cvi energy corporation limited

LUANDA, June 17 (Reuters) - Angola's ruling party will amend the...

  1. 5,526 Posts.
    LUANDA, June 17 (Reuters) - Angola's ruling party will amend the country's electoral law to add a second day of voting for the upcoming parliamentary election after complaints that some voters could be shut out of the poll, the first since 1992.

    The move by the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) was announced by the state-run Jornal de Angola on Tuesday and came about two weeks after President Jose Eduardo dos Santos asked parliament to consider extending voting.

    Angolan law requires voting be completed in only one day.

    The parliamentary poll is scheduled for Sept. 5 and would likely be carried over to the following day if the MPLA approves the change. The party dominates Angola's parliament.

    "It isn't fair that we were 16 years without voting and now that we have that opportunity we will return home with the (voting) card," MPLA spokesman Norberto dos Santos was quoted as saying on the newspaper's website.

    Angola's last election in 1992 was aborted, leading to the resumption of the 27-year civil war between the government and rebels from the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA).

    The conflict, which ended in 2002, killed more than one million people and devastated the oil-rich nation's economy.

    UNITA is the main opposition party. Many political observers say it is unlikely to unseat the MPLA, which holds 129 seats out of a total of 220 seats. UNITA has 70 seats.

    The European Union plans to send observers as early as July to oversee the electoral process in Angola, and other missions are expected to follow.

    A presidential election is expected to be held in 2009. (Reporting by Henrique Almeida; editing by Stephen Weeks)


 
watchlist Created with Sketch. Add CVI (ASX) to my watchlist

Currently unlisted public company.

arrow-down-2 Created with Sketch. arrow-down-2 Created with Sketch.