Dos Santos asks Angola for another term to rebuild from war
LUANDA (AFP) - President Jose Eduardo dos Santos asked Angolans to give him five more years in power to further his drive to rebuild the country after its 27-year civil war, on the final day of election campaigning Wednesday.
Dos Santos, already in office for 33 years, has campaigned on his party's multi-billion-dollar drive to pour the nation's oil wealth into building roads, schools and clinics to pull the nation from the ashes of war.
That oil wealth has also helped his family, particularly his daughter Isabel, assemble a business empire whose largesse was on full display in the carefully choreographed tribute to the man who dominates Angolan politics.
Speaking on a stage outside the country's biggest stadium, he acknowledged the problems facing the country, which has created one of the world's fastest-growing economies but left the majority of its people in abject poverty.
"We know the challenges that Angola faces. We are a realistic, pragmatic party," he told tens of thousands of cheering supporters of his party, the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA).
Dos Santos said he wanted "everyone to feel part of the grand project to make Angola a prosperous and democratic country".
He also urged private business to join government in creating jobs for young Angolans, in a country where more than half the population is under 18 and unemployment is at 30 percent.
The rally was designed like a well-branded street carnival, with jumbo screens, thumping music by local pop stars praising the MPLA, and tens of thousands of people -- mostly bused in for the party.
The event is his last campaign stop before Friday's general elections, when the MPLA is expected to easily win. Thursday is a day of deliberation before the voting.
The opposition National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita), which planned to hold its final event later Wednesday, has criticised the elections process with some success.
A Unita court challenge forced out the leader of the National Electoral Commission, seen as an ally of Dos Santos.
But Unita still complains that the audit of the 9.7 million names on the voter roll hasn't been released, and says the system for transmitting results from the polling stations to the commission is flawed.
The former rebel group has made democratic reforms the centrepiece of its campaign, as party leader Isaias Samakuva seeks to rebound from Unita's dismal 2008 showing that left it with only about 10 percent of the vote.
Frustrations within the party have already provoked a split, with top Unita leader Abel Chivukuvuku creating the new Casa party along with a top MPLA figure, smaller opposition groups and key figures from civil society.
He has heavily courted the youth vote with promises of jobs and better living conditions, issues that resonate with many young people who had little direct experience of war and now eye Luanda's sparkling new skyscrapers with envy.
Angola's last elections were judged overall as legitimate, but this time the voting will take place with far fewer observers. The European Union sent the biggest team last time, but only sent two technical experts this year due to the costs of working in Luanda, one of the world's most expensive cities.
Civic groups are stepping in, but their abilities are limited in a country that keeps a tight lid on their activities.
Despite efforts to contain dissent, Dos Santos has been rattled by a series of protests since last year by young activists, not linked to any party, taking to the streets to demand jobs, housing, water and electricity.
The protests have been small and quickly repressed, but clearly unnerved a government that tolerates little public dissent. Security forces quickly squashed the demos, often beating the activists.
In response, Dos Santos has repeatedly highlighted his government's achievements in building roads, schools and clinics.