The European Union has announced it will not send an election observation mission to Angola in next month’s poll after the country failed to agree to a package of conditions.
The EU will instead send a small team of experts to assess the election on August 23, but the team will not consist of more than five members, and will not be expected to provide an in-depth account of the electoral process.
The EU official said that the Central African nation had rejected some conditions including access to all parts of the country during the poll.
“Notwithstanding positive discussions with the Angolan side, the conditions for deployment in accordance with our methodology have not been met, therefore the EU will not deploy an Electoral Observation Mission,” Reuters reports the spokesman to say.
Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos is to step down after 38 years at the helm of a country that has become Africa’s No. 2 crude producer, but will retain sweeping powers as president of the ruling MPLA party after the poll.
The party has chosen Defence Minister Joao Lourenco as its presidential candidate.
The spokesman said Angola’s foreign ministry and electoral commission have been informed of the EU’s decision.
The EU had looked set to send its first Electoral Observation Mission to Angola since a 27-year civil war ended in 2002. But a request from the EU that Angola sign a memorandum of understanding, which set out conditions for the observation mission, was rejected earlier this month.
