Angola ruling party backs President Lourenco for a second term

Angola’s ruling party, which has run the country since independence in 1975, on Friday chose President Joao Lourenco as their candidate for next year’s election, backing his bid for a second term.

The People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) members overwhelmingly backed Lourenco to run again five days after the main opposition party, UNITA, re-elected Adalberto Costa Junior as its leader, positioning him as the president’s main electoral rival.

Lourenco, 67, succeeded Jose Eduardo dos Santos as president in 2017. His party has been in power since Angola achieved independence from Portugal.

He had served as defence minister under dos Santos who yielded absolute power over the southwestern African nation for 38 years.

Angola, a country of 33 million people, is rich in natural resources but many of the population live in poverty.

Dos Santos is accused of appointing family and friends to key positions during his marathon rule, leaving the country with a legacy of both poverty and nepotism.

Lourenco has vowed to restore Angola’s oil-dependent economy and fight graft, leading a purge of his predecessor’s administration focused mainly on the former first family.

The dos Santos children have accused Lourenco of a political “witch hunt”.