Main Angola opposition party eyes leadership battle

VIANA, Angola, July 18 (Reuters) Members of Angola's main opposition party will meet tomorrow to choose a candidate to lead it into national elections next year and in 2009, the first polls in the southwestern African nation in almost two decades.

Isaias Samakuva currently leads the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), a former rebel movement that fought the government for 27 years, but he faces a stiff challenge from Abel Chivukuvuku, a member of parliament.

''Some people say Samakuva will win, no question about it, but others say the party won't go anywhere with him and will lose votes to other opposition parties (in national elections),'' a political analyst who requested anonymity told Reuters.

''There is the feeling Samakuva has been a good transitional leader but doesn't have the career presence to be a presidential candidate,'' the analyst said as more than 1,000 UNITA delegates gathered at a conference hall in Viana, near Luanda.

An estimated seven million people in oil-rich Angola are expected to vote in legislative elections set for 2008, with a presidential ballot to follow in 2009.

The elections have been postponed several times by the ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), which has cited the poor state of roads and other infrastructure as reasons for the delay.

''This is an important time for us -- we are preparing for national elections and want to make sure our party and policies are well prepared,'' Adalberto da Costa Jr., UNITA's information secretary, told Reuters today.

He said independent observers would be present to monitor the leadership voting.

Angola's last national election, a 1992 presidential poll, was aborted after a disputed first round, prompting UNITA and its then-leader Jonas Savimbi to return to the bush and resume the conflict with the government.

Savimbi was killed in 2002 and the war ended several months later.

Some of the more than 1,000 UNITA delegates at the conference said Samakuva would remain as leader because he was regarded as closer to Savimbi, who continues to cast a long shadow over the party and its supporters.

''He (Chivukuvuku) says he is a 'Savimbista' but for a long time criticised Savimbi. Lots of people don't like that -- Savimbi has become a myth and his faults have disappeared over time,'' a delegate said. Nearby hung a giant picture of Savimbi.

Whoever wins the contest will face an uphill struggle in unseating the MPLA next year and its presidential candidate in 2009. The ruling party has a decided financial advantage and also controls a large swath of the media.

Angola's powerful President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who has ruled the country since 1979, is expected to run for another term in 2009.

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