On Sunday, June 19, an Emirates airplane waited for takeoff for an hour on the tarmac at Angola's Luanda International Airport.

The plane was delayed because one passenger had not been allowed to board: Adalberto Costa Junior, an Angolan member of parliament and leader of UNITA, the largest opposition party and former rebel movement.

Costa Junior had checked in hours before the flight to Washington, with a stopover in Dubai. But shortly before departure, Angolan immigration authorities questioned the authenticity of his US visa and deamded to know if he had notified parliament of his trip abroad.

The interrogation dragged on long enough for Costa Junior to fear that the plane would leave without him. A spokesperson for his party later accused the Angolan authorities of "harassment" and a "criminal act."

Attrition tactics against the opposition

On August 24, Angola will hold elections in which UNITA will challenge President Joao Lourenco's ruling People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA).

As the top candidate, Costa Junior would assume the presidency if his party wins, according to the constitution.

Jose Gama, editor-in-chief of the government-critical internet portal "Club K," which reported on the incident, told DW that the government is seeking to throttle the opposition.

"Such incidents are part of the ruling party's tactics and the incumbent president's," Gama said.

"They want to wear down the opposition parties, especially the opposition leader, by keeping putting obstacles in his way."

After a lengthy back-and-forth, Costa Junior was finally allowed to board the plane "last, and at the last minute," the journalist said.

Personal documents leaked online

But that was not the end of it. While Costa Junior was still in transit, copies of his passport, visa, air ticket, and even his boarding pass surfaced on the internet.

"The airport employees had photographed the documents without his knowledge and passed them on for publication, which is forbidden in Angola and can be punished with up to 8 years in prison," an outraged Gama said, stressing the "endangerment of the opposition leader's security interests."

Gama claims the Angolan secret service was behind the incident and says such moves are typical. "It was an agent of the Angolan secret service named Carlos Alberto who published the documents of the UNITA chairman on social media."

A DW investigation revealed that there some of Costa Junior's documents had been published on Carlos Alberto's Facebook account, but were deleted after one day. Facebook then blocked the account for 24 hours.

Transparency in the election not ensured

This year's election, the fifth in Angola's history, is highly contested and the run-up is tense, political observers confirmed to DW.

For Paula Roque, a researcher at Oxford University, the latest events in Angola are cause for concern.

"I see signs of a very difficult election, because the opposition is only conditionally prepared to exercise power, and the ruling party is not in the least prepared to relinquish power," the independent analyst told DW.

She says even the electoral roll preparation was characterized by incompetence and lack of transparency, and sees the fact that the electoral commission handed over the logistics of the elections to Spanish company INDRA as a bad omen.

This company had attracted attention in the past because of illegal practices. For Paula Roque, there is no doubt that the "electoral machinery" is partisan and that the National Electoral Commission will not act independently.

UNITA plans its own vote count

Jon Schubert, a researcher at the University of Basel in Switzerland, expressed similar views.

"The formation of the 'United Patriotic Front (FPU),' a coalition of three opposition parties led by UNITA, has strengthened the opposition. As a result, the MPLA now fears that the opposition represents a credible alternative for voters," Schubert told DW. 

He warned that this increases the likelihood of electoral fraud and that an opposition victory would not be accepted.

"To counteract possible electoral fraud, UNITA is planning to set up its own alternative vote-counting infrastructure," journalist Jose Gama said.

Opposition leader Costa Junior is therefore making frequent trips abroad ⁠— especially to the US and EU countries ⁠— to promote the plan and shore up financial and logistical support.

The MPLA, for its part, is doing everything in its power to prevent the plan.

MPLA wants to avoid 'Malawi scenario'

According to Gama, the ruling MPLA wants to prevent Angola's election being overturned — which is what happened afterMalawi's 2019 election.

"I recall that in the last elections in Malawi, the opposition was able to count the votes in parallel. And that was crucial for the true election results to come to light," he said.

A court in Malawi annulled the results of the May 2019 presidential election after the opposition, armed with concrete evidence of election fraud, challenged the outcome.

Malawi became only the second African country ⁠— after Kenya ⁠— to have judges declare the results of an election invalid.

"We too face constant and systematic attempts by the government to obstruct our electoral campaign," Costa Junior said upon arriving in Washington, where he again appealed for help.

"But we are fighting for a fair campaign and for fair elections in August, so that the opposition can effectively monitor the electoral process."

Angolan President Joao Lourenco has vehemently denied all accusations of electoral fraud.

In a recent speech that lasted almost an hour, Lourenco strongly criticized his opponents. He said it is reprehensible to discredit the elections of one's own country.

"Elections in which they ⁠— as opposition members ⁠— are themselves involved, because they are in the National Assembly and also have members in the National Electoral Commission," he said.

This article was translated from German