By Casimiro Siona
Associated Press
Saturday, September 6, 2008

LUANDA, Angola, Sept. 5 -- Angola stumbled on the road to democracy Friday, as long lines and a shortage of ballots and voting officials marred its first elections in 16 years.

The voting follows one of Africa's longest civil wars, including a resurgence of fighting set off by the last balloting in 1992. But the run-up to the election was relatively peaceful, and voters remained calm Friday despite disorganization and delays.

In the capital, Luanda, voting "was a disaster," said Luisa Morgantini, chief of the European Union observer mission monitoring the parliamentary elections. Outside the capital, the situation was better, though not problem-free, she said.

Morgantini said the problems also included a shortage of ink used to mark voters' fingers to prevent multiple voting.

More than 8 million people in this southern African nation of more than 16 million were registered to vote for members of the 220-seat parliament. Results are expected next week, and President José Eduardo dos Santos is expected to retain control of parliament.

Most of the country's power currently rests with dos Santos, who will run in next year's presidential election.

"We have now started a new political era, a new way of using politics to obtain our goals," said dos Santos, who had repeatedly put off the vote, citing logistical difficulties. As he cast his ballot in Luanda, he said a new era would be built on "respect for freedom and the rights of everyone to express their point of view."

International human rights groups accuse dos Santos's once-Marxist Popular Liberation Movement of Angola of corruption and mismanagement. The party campaigned on promises to continue transforming a nation destroyed by civil war.

The opposition National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, or UNITA, had urged poor Angolans to vote for change. But in the minds of many Angolans, UNITA is linked to the horrors of a war that left an estimated 1 million dead and hundreds of thousands orphaned or maimed.

People in this country, which is twice the size of Texas, focus on survival -- including avoiding the 8 million land mines left over from the war. The mines still kill or wound 300 people a year.

Fighting broke out at Angola's independence from Portugal in 1975 and ended in 2002, when the army killed UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi. In 1992, dos Santos beat Savimbi in the first round of the presidential election, but Savimbi refused to accept defeat and returned to war before the second round of voting could be held.

Angola is rich in diamonds and oil, but little of that wealth has trickled down to its many poor people, and the country's infrastructure remains in disrepair. This year, Angola, the newest member of OPEC, overtook Saudi Arabia as the leading source of crude oil for China.