Bullets to ballots: The reintegration of UNITA in Angola

Angola has enjoyed mostly peace since April 2002 and is preparing for legislative elections in September 2008-the first since 1992. This paper charts the fortunes of the former rebel movement, UNITA, the Union for the Total Independence of Angola, assesses how successfully it has transformed itself from a rebel movement into the leading party of the democratic opposition and what its future prospects are. Many of the problems that UNITA faces are similar to other political opposition parties in Africa and there are few signs that UNITA is any longer disadvantaged by its violent past. The biggest threat to UNITA is that it loses badly in the September 2008 legislative elections and makes these ex-rebels irrelevant to the majority of Angolans.