Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country located on the west coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) country in both total area and population, and is the seventh-largest country in Africa. It is bordered by Namibia to the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Zambia to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Angola has an exclave province, the province of Cabinda, that borders the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital and most populous city is Luanda.
The Angolan government is composed of three branches of government: executive, legislative and judicial. For decades, political power has been concentrated in the presidency with the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola.
The Carnation Revolution, also known as the 25 April, was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lisbon, producing major social, economic, territorial, demographic, and political changes in Portugal and its overseas colonies through the Processo Revolucionário Em Curso. It resulted in the Portuguese transition to democracy and the end of the Portuguese Colonial War.
The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola, for some years called the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola – Labour Party, is an Angolan left-wing, social democratic political party. The MPLA fought against the Portuguese army in the Angolan War of Independence from 1961 to 1974, and defeated the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA) in the Angolan Civil War. The party has ruled Angola since the country's independence from Portugal in 1975, being the de facto government throughout the civil war and continuing to rule afterwards.
The president of Angola is both head of state and head of government in Angola. According to the constitution adopted in 2010, the post of prime minister is abolished; executive authority belongs to the president who has also a degree of legislative power, as he can govern by decree.
José Eduardo dos Santos was the president of Angola from 1979 to 2017. As president, dos Santos was also the commander-in-chief of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) and president of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the party that has ruled Angola since it won independence in 1975. He was the second-longest-serving president in Africa, surpassed only by Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea.
Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos, known as Nandó, is an Angolan politician who was the first vice president of Angola from February 2010 to September 2012. He was the prime minister of Angola from 2002 to 2008 and president of the National Assembly of Angola from 2008 to 2010. He has again served as president of the National Assembly since 2012.
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in Portugal. It was founded on 19 April 1973 in the German city of Bad Münstereifel by militants from the Portuguese Socialist Action. The PS is a member of the Socialist International, Progressive Alliance and Party of European Socialists, and has nine members in the European Parliament within the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats group during the 9th European Parliament.
The 1983 Portuguese legislative election took place on 25 April. The election renewed all 250 members of the Assembly of the Republic.
The Broad Convergence for the Salvation of Angola – Electoral Coalition is a political alliance in Angola. Members include the Angolan Free Alliance Majority Party, the Angolan Pacific Party, the Democratic Bloc, the Party for Democracy and Development in Angola-Patriotic Alliance and the National Salvation Party of Angola.
Fernando Medina Maciel Almeida Correia is a Portuguese economist and politician Socialist Party (PS) who has been serving as Minister of Finance in the government of Prime Minister António Costa since 2022. He previously served as Mayor of Lisbon from 2015, succeeding Costa, to 2021.
General elections were held in Angola on 23 August 2017 to elect the President and National Assembly, although voting was delayed until 26 August at 15 polling stations due to bad weather on election day. The top candidate of the winning party is elected president. The ruling party MPLA headed by João Lourenço was widely expected to win. Preliminary results show that MPLA won with a clear margin. The final results were released on 6 September 2017.
João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço is an Angolan politician, who has served as the president of Angola since 26 September 2017. Previously, he was Minister of Defence from 2014 to 2017. In September 2018, he became the Chairman of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the ruling party. He was the party's Secretary-General from 1998 to 2003.
Early legislative elections were held on 30 January 2022 in Portugal to elect members of the Assembly of the Republic to the 15th Legislature of the Third Portuguese Republic. All 230 seats to the Assembly of the Republic were up for election.
General elections were held in Angola on 24 August 2022 to elect the President and National Assembly. Incumbent president João Lourenço is eligible for one more term. Preliminary results indicated the MPLA securing re-election with a reduced majority, winning 124 seats and obtaining 51% of the vote. The main opposition party, UNITA secured 90 seats with 44% of the vote. The Social Renewal Party (PRS), the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA) and the Humanist Party of Angola (PHA) each won two seats. This election is to date the closest in Angola history.
The United Patriotic Front is an Angolan opposition political coalition led by the UNITA party and its leader, Adalberto Costa Júnior.
Florbela Catarina "Bela" Malaquias is an Angolan journalist, lawyer and politician who is leader of the Humanist Party of Angola.
