ANGOLA: THE MEDIA ARE ACCOMPLICES OF THE GOVERNMENT

The Angolan elections are around the corner and each of the parties aims to spread their ideas in the best possible way, in order to captivate the citizen's vote.

In a country where only in theory through laws or the Constitution observes democracy, the party that has been in power since independence, besides compromising the legitimacy and veracity of the elections by not collaborating on the issue of international observers, continues to dominate the Angolan media, even in the midst of an election campaign.

Once again, the MPLA is turning the elections into a farce; the disparity in the attention given by the Angolan media to the different political forces is abyssal. The average MPLA time spent by the media in this election campaign period is on average over 60%. The remaining parties, or movements, are left with the rest, standing out UNITA with an average of 13%.

This situation is obviously unconstitutional and violates Angolan law. In an election campaign, there must be equality of treatment in relation to all participating parties, regardless of whether the service media are public or private.

Unfortunately, although this context is not unprecedented, it ultimately discredits justice in the elections, and certain candidacies gain more relevance to the detriment of others.

Given this scenario, it would be vital the National Elections Commission (NEC) ensured respect for equal opportunities and treatment of the various candidates. Equal conditions given by media is imperative. If the NEC doesn’t comply with its obligation, the parties must appeal to the Constitutional Court, which has jurisdiction over electoral issues.

In the face of the damage that media companies are causing in the course of the electoral process, they can be subject of heavy claims for monetary compensation.

If we want justice and veracity in the electoral process, we must condemn situations like that.

 João Dias - Senior Consultant, Professor of International Relations