Angola: General election set for August 23

Eduardo dos Santos set to set down as president of Angola

Angola’s cabinet said on Monday that elections will be held on August 23 to choose a successor to President Eduardo dos Santos who will be stepping down.

The long-serving Dos Santos, 74, announced earlier this year that he would not contest the election.
His ruling MPLA party’s presidential candidate will be the current defence minister.

“At the suggestion of the president of the republic, the nation’s cabinet on Monday approved August 23 as the date for Angola’s general election,” cabinet spokesman Joao Maria de Sousa said in a press conference broadcast on national radio.

Dos Santos is now set to formally trigger the legal process to stage the polls which will see up to 9.6 million Angolans cast ballots.

Joao Lourenco, the current defence minister, is thought by analysts to be the most likely victor in August’s contest.
The election is set to mark a new chapter for the oil-rich country as Dos Santos hands over power.

Under Dos Santos’ watch, Angola has seen an oil-backed economic boom and the reconstruction of infrastructure devastated by a 27-year civil war that ended in 2002. Angola now boasts of being ranked in the top 5 African economies.

After constitutional changes in 2010, Angola does not directly elect a president but the leader of the winning party in the general elections automatically becomes head of state.

Source: Agencies