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The political and legal context within which the Angolan media operates can be characterisedas difficult, considering the following:• The dichotomy in the transition to democracy after 27 years of civil war, with relativefreedoms in the capital, and ignorance and violations of freedoms in rural areas;• The indefinite postponement of the general elections and all related political and legalmeasures;• Human rights violations – such as freedom of expression and demonstration, the right toaccommodation, and access to information – and the concomitant absence of adequateresponse from the authorities;• The protracted process of media law reform;• Judicial appointments made politically, without taking into consideration therecommendations of civil society;• A lack of pluralism, with public media becoming government media, and disturbing signsof political intolerance, particularly in rural areas;• Insufficient unity and consistency among the political opposition and civil society in searchof alternative platforms;• Social erosion as a result of poverty, corruption, illiteracy and political violence.Government and the mediaAlthough there were no notable altercations between the media and government in 2005, it isimportant to underline the constant ambivalence of the executive towards the public media onthe one hand and the private media on the other. This attitude is clear in the transformation ofthe public media into government media. The frequent denunciations of corruption by theprivate media were usually not clarified by the government, with the authorities maintainingthat such allegations were “misinformation” spread by foreigners.MISA Angola reported a number of incidents against media freedom, including censorship ofthe state media and journalists being threatened by government officials. Promises made bythe authorities to assist the print media with tax exemptions on paper were not fulfilled.Although the government considered numerous innovative proposals in the new media bill as“important achievements”, the private media and institutions such as MISA Angola and theCatholic Church still regarded these as “insufficient” and not conducive to a free media environment.Legal situationThe legal framework for the media remained unchanged during 2005, following the late discussionof the media bill, which was not passed by parliament during this year. As a result,journalists continued to operate under fear of prosecution, victimisation and attack.Media practitioners and civil society raised their concerns about the prospective bill allowingthe executive, and in specific situations parliament, to legislate on rights-related matters, freedomsand constitutional guarantees. Concerns were also raised about the concepts of nationalsecurity and state secrets, as defined in the bill. It was felt that many issues that should beintegrated in the media law bill, especially relating to international principles on media freedomand freedom of expression, would be excluded.ConstitutionFreedom of expression and press freedom suffered setbacks in 2005, despite these being guar-So This Is Democracy? 2005-28-Media Institute of Southern Africa