Luanda – Former Angolan President, Jose Dos-Santos is to stand down as head of the country’s ruling party after almost four decades, Portuguese media reported on Friday.
Quoting a statement from the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), news agency Lusa said Dos-Santos, 75, would stand down at a party congress in September.
Current President Joao Lourenco will be a candidate for the position, which will be decided by a meeting of the party’s governing body, chaired by Dos-Santos, the report said.
Dos-Santos ruled the south-west African country with a firm hand for almost 38 years. He did not stand in last 2017 presidential election.
The MPLA won the election and former Defence Minister, Joao Lourenco, 64, took over as president.
Although Angola is Africa’s second-biggest oil producing country after Nigeria, it is one of the poorest countries in the world, according to UN statistics.(dpa/NAN)
