Angola changes its leader — 37 years on
Presidential election on Wednesday will end decades in power for President Jose Eduardo dos Santos but loyalist waits in the wings
Luanda — When Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos steps down and his successor is chosen in Wednesday’s elections, it will bring to an end a 38-year reign dominated by his unrelenting authoritarian style. Although seldom seen in public, he has been a looming presence in daily life for as long as most Angolans can remember, maintaining fierce control over the country throughout its devastating civil war and recent oil boom. Now aged 74 and reportedly in poor health, Dos Santos became president in 1979, making him Africa’s second-longest-serving leader — one month shy of Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema. Until the 27-year civil war ended in 2002, Dos Santos presided over a country torn apart by conflict as his People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) government fought rebels led by the Unita group under Jonas Savimbi. He has been credited for leading Angola out of the war, moving away from hardline Marxism and fostering a post-war oil boom and foreign inves...
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