Civil society demands a say in peace process

Civil society groups in Angola have demanded that citizens be allowed to play a more active role in a peace process which has so far been dominated by discussions between the government and the former rebel movement, UNITA. Trade unions, churches, and NGOs made their concerns known last week at a conference on "The Agenda for Peace and Reconciliation in the Republic of Angola" - the first time they had presented a united response to the political changes that followed the death in February of UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi. The Coalition for Reconciliation, Transparency and Citizenship, which organised the conference, also issued a strongly-worded challenge to the government, challenging the legitimacy of the present regime. Among the demands made by the conference were "that non-governmental organisations, community groups, associations and independent individuals commit themselves, in a responsible and united way, to taking action to strengthen civil society's participation in the process of peace, reconciliation and democratisation in Angola". The conference also called for "direct and free participation by civil society organisations in the constitutional debate which is currently going on within the framework of the Constitutional Commission". At present, negotiations on the conclusion of the peace process in Angola are taking place within the framework of the Joint Commission, a body constituted in terms of the Lusaka Protocol which was signed by the government and UNITA in 1994, but suspended when war broke out again in 1998. The Joint Commission is chaired by Ibrahim Gambari, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, and includes representatives from the government, UNITA and the troika of observer states: Portugal, Russia and the United States. Civil society organisations began last year to demand a role in the peace process, which at that stage had come to a near standstill. After Savimbi was killed in battle, the government and UNITA entered negotiations on the resumption of the Lusaka process, which makes no provision for civil society's participation. The recent conference was the first response from civil society to a situation much changed since last year. The conference paid special attention to the ongoing war in the Cabinda enclave, where the Angolan military are battling factions of the Front for the Liberation of the Cabinda Enclave (FLEC). The closing declaration requested that "society not remain under the illusion that the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the government and UNITA means that the country is now finally at peace, when in reality the war is continuing to claim innocent lives in Cabinda". Speaking on behalf of the Coalition for Reconciliation, Transparency and Citizenship, economist and political commentator Justino Pinto de Andrade delivered a paper that questioned the legality of the current government in Luanda. "The current Angolan political system, when viewed as a whole, completely lacks the democratic legitimacy demanded by the Angolan constitution, as well as by the standards of international public law," Pinto de Andrade said Pinto de Andrade, dean of the Faculty of Law at Luanda's Catholic University, pointed out that President Jose Eduardo dos Santos had failed to secure an outright majority in the 1992 elections, necessitating a second round of voting, which never took place. Pinto de Andrade also argued that there were irregularities in the way the government has made extentions to its mandate without holding elections, and in the fact that the position of prime minister is currently vacant. English version of the Lusaka Protocol.