Angola's opposition leader claimed on Tuesday the government would resort to violence and intimidation ahead of legislative elections next month, the country's first since the end of a 27-year civil war.

"The government is going to use these methods against the agents of change," Unita head Isaias Samakuva told a rally as the party launched its campaign, naming "coercion and threats" and "physical violence" among others.

"But we should not be afraid, because the time of change has come. On September 5th the people are going to change the regime with a simpler weapon: the vote."

The 5 September polls are the first since the country's civil war ended in 2002, and official campaiging for the election began on Tuesday.

President Jose Eduardo dos Santos pledged in an address to the nation late on Monday that polls would now be held every four years in accordance with constitutional rules introduced for the last elections in 1992.

"From now on legislative elections will be organised regularly, with periodic renewal every four years, according to constitutional law," said Dos Santos, who has been in office since 1979.

He also called for "respect and tolerance" in the run-up to the vote, when his MPLA party will be seeking to extend its 33 years in power in the country, which rivals Nigeria as Africa's largest oil producer.

Samakuva of Unita, an ex-rebel movement that fought against government forces in the war and is now the main opposition, said the country would avoid the kind of political crisis that has hit fellow African nations in recent months.

"We will not allow the bad examples from Kenya and Zimbabwe to repeat here," he said.

Opposition parties have raised concerns that they could not access the $1.2-million (€770 000) in financing the government has promised them for campaigning.

Filomeno Viera Lopes, chairperson of the Front for Democracy, said of the financing difficulties: "Clearly we see that the (electoral) law is there to make difficulties for political parties to operate."

A finance ministry source told Lac radio that they "have to open a special account and appoint an external administrator in order to guarantee transparent management of the money."

AFP