Joao Lourenco to take over party leadership from Angola’s dos Santos

Angola's President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos leaving the Elysee presidential palace in Paris after a meeting with French president on April 29, 2014. National Radio of Angola said that Defence Minister Joao Lourenco would take over as MPLA leader. PHOTO | ALAIN JOCARD | AFP

What you need to know:

  • Dos Santos, 74, who has been head of state since 1979, announced intention to step down next year.
  • Lourenco would be officially presented as the next ruling party leader on December 10, during MPLA’s 60th anniversary.
  • Angola’s elections in 2017 will be the third since the end of civil war in 2002.
  • Territory Administration minister Bornito de Sousa would be the party’s number two, according to RNA.

LUANDA

Angolan Defence minister Joao Lourenco has been proposed to take over leadership of the ruling MPLA from President Jose Eduardo dos Santos.

State-owned broadcaster Radio Nacional de Angola (RNA) said Lourenco’s name had been put forward by the MPLA for next year’s General Election.

Dos Santos, 74, who has been head of state since 1979, announced intention to step down next year.

RNA said Lourenco would be officially presented as the next ruling party leader on December 10, during MPLA’s 60th anniversary.

The party was founded on December 10, 1956.

Territory Administration minister Bornito de Sousa would be the party’s number two, according to RNA.

The country’s elections in 2017 will be the third since the end of civil war in 2002.

QUIT POLITICS

MPLA won with a parliamentary majority in 1992, 2008 and 2012.

President dos Santos announced on March 11 that he would quit politics in 2018, after the end of his term but there are reports that he may leave next year.

According to the law, the leader of the majority party automatically becomes Angola’s president.

Lourenco, 62, is married with six sons. He speaks Portuguese, English, Russian and Spanish.

The former MPLA secretary-general is credited with a political career not rooted in his family’s ties.

He family has no links with the traditional ruling party big wigs.