Angola says appointment of election head was impartial

LISBON (Reuters) - Angola's ruling MPLA party on Wednesday defended the re-appointment of the electoral commission chief and said opposition criticism was aimed at causing instability before an election this year.

UNITA lawmakers and those of three smaller opposition parties walked out of parliament in protest as the election commission members were sworn in earlier on Wednesday, the state news agency Angop reported.

The parliamentary election, to be held in the third quarter, will be only the second in Angola since the end of a devastating 27-year civil war in 2002, with the head of the winning party's candidate list becoming president.

The administration of President Eduardo dos Santos has long been accused of avoiding public scrutiny, mismanaging Angolan oil revenues and doing too little to fight graft and widespread poverty in Africa's second-largest oil producer after Nigeria.

Main opposition party UNITA last week slammed the re-appointment of Suzana Ingles as the head of the national election commission, saying it violated Angola's new election law and undermined the body's independence.

The Magistrates Superior Council's members are selected by dos Santos, who has held power since 1979.

Angop cited MPLA parliamentary bench leader Virgilio de Fontes Pereira as saying the Magistrates Superior Council had acted independently in deciding on the re-appointment and had later explained its reasoning.

Fontes Pereira said the criticism of the appointment shows "some opposition forces are determined to create a climate of instability and suspicion around the electoral process," according to an Angop report monitored in Lisbon.

UNITA said last week that Ingles did not fit the legal requirements to head the commission as she is a lawyer and not a magistrate court judge, and cannot be seen as independent as she is a leading member of the MPLA women's organisation, OMA.

The opposition parties last month reached a deal with the MPLA to pass the new election law, ending months of negotiations during which they had accused the ruling party of trying to control the election by stripping the commission of power.

Dos Santos' MPLA won the civil war against UNITA and obtained 82 percent of the vote in an election four years ago. It is widely expected to win the 2012 vote.