Voting in Angola resumes amid controversy

Voting in Angola's parliamentary election resumed yesterday for an unscheduled second day amid charges the poll had been chaotic and violated the African nation's electoral law.

The election, Angola's first for 16 years, is largely a race between the ruling MPLA and opposition UNITA party. It has been keenly watched by the international community because of controversy marring recent African polls and Angola's emergence as a major oil producer.

Hopes the poll would go smoothly foundered on Friday when scores of polling stations failed to open on time and others did so hours late, preventing many residents from voting in Luanda province, home to more than 20 per cent of Angola's 8.3 million registered voters.

UNITA challenged the legitimacy of the vote in Luanda province at the country's Constitutional Court.

"We had no choice but to file the challenge. Conditions did not exist for the election in Luanda (province) yesterday and they still do not exist today," UNITA spokesman Adalberto da Costa told Reuters.

The government has denied any electoral wrongdoing.

Angola's electoral commission extended the voting into yesterday as a result of the problems. A spokesman for the commission said voting began at 320 polling stations yesterday morning and was expected to be completed by 7 p.m.

Problems with voter registration lists were cited as the main cause of the delays, which were concentrated in Luanda province.

International observers express-ed concern at the failure to provide the lists.

"The law was broken because the electoral registration was not distributed," Luisa Morgantini, who is leading a 120-member EU team, told Reuters. "We cannot say the process was done according to the rules."

Morgantini said Angola's election officials should consider meeting with international observers to discuss the problems.