The current political regime in Angola is presidentialism,in which the President of the Republic is also head of state and government;it is advised by a Council of Ministers,which together with the President form the national executive power. Legislative power rests with the 220 parliamentarians elected to the National Assembly. The President of the Republic,together with the parliament,appoints the majority of the members of the two highest bodies of the judiciary,that is,the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court. The judiciary is still made up of the Court of Auditors and the Supreme Military Court.
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.
JoséEduardo 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. By the time he stepped down in 2017,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 from 2012 to 2022.
Elections in Angola take place within the framework of a multi-party democracy. The National Assembly is directly elected by voters,while the leader of the party or coalition with the most seats in the National Assembly automatically becomes President.
Group Sonangol is a parastatal that formerly oversaw petroleum and natural gas production in Angola. The group consisted of Sonangol E.P. and its many subsidiaries. The subsidiaries generally had Sonangol E.P. as a primary client,along with other corporate,commercial,and individual clients. Angola is estimated to have over 5 billion barrels (790,000,000 m3) of offshore and coastal petroleum reserves,and new discoveries are outpacing consumption by a 5-to-1 ratio.
The National Assembly is the legislative branch of the government of Angola. Angola is a unicameral country so the National Assembly is the only legislative chamber at the national level. The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) has held a majority in the Assembly since Angolan independence in 1975.
João Bernardo de Miranda is an Angolan politician who is currently the Ambassador of Angola in France. He was Minister of External Relations of Angola from January 1999 to October 2008 and the Governor of Bengo Province from 2009 to 2018.
Lúcio Rodrigo Leite Barreto de Lara,also known by the pseudonym Tchiweka,was a physicist-mathematician,politician,professor,anti-colonial ideologist and one of the founding members of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). He served as General Secretary of the MPLA during the Angolan War of Independence and Angolan Civil War. Lara,a founding member of the MPLA,led the first MPLA members into Luanda on 8 November 1974. He swore in Agostinho Neto as the first president of the country.
Since its independence from Portugal in 1975,Angola has had three constitutions. The first came into force in 1975 as an "interim" measure;the second was approved in a 1992 referendum,and the third one was instituted in 2010.
The institutional corruption in Angola refers to the pervasive and long-standing issue of corruption within the country's government and public institutions. The aftermath of the 30-year civil war and the influence of the Soviet command economy have resulted in significant institutional damage and the emergence of a centralized government with authoritarian tendencies. This has allowed the president and his associates to exert control over the nation's resources,enabling them to exploit the economy for personal gain through legal and extra-legal means.
General Manuel Hélder Vieira Dias Jr,known by the nickname "Kopelipa",is an Angolan general,former public official,and businessman with close ties to former Angolan President JoséEduardo dos Santos. In 2014,his net worth was estimated at close to $3 billion. In 2021,the U.S. Treasury Department blocked his assets in 2021.
António Paulo Kassoma is an Angolan politician. He was named Prime Minister of Angola in September 2008 and remained in office until the new constitution replaced this function in February 2010. Kassoma then served as President of the National Assembly of Angola from 2010 to 2012. On August 27,2016 Kassoma was named Party Secretary of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola.
General elections were held in Angola on 31 August 2012 to elect the President and National Assembly. During campaigning,the opposition UNITA and its offshoot CASA-CE accused and criticised the government of corruption and called for greater transparency;this also led to protests and arrests the day before the election. These were the first elections after the new 2010 constitution was instituted.
Jose Filomeno de Sousa dos Santos is an Angolan businessman,and the son of Angola's former President JoséEduardo dos Santos,who ruled the country as a dictator from 1979 to 2017. He has been arrested and convicted twice for money laundering and fraud.
Albina Faria de Assis Pereira Africano best known as Albina Assis is an Angolan chemist and politician. She has held many positions including Minister of Oil and Industry in the Angolan government,Special Advisor to the President for Regional Affairs,and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sonangol.
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 3rd 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.
Leopoldino Fragoso do Nascimento,aka "General Dino",was the Head of the Angolan President's Communication Service under JoséEduardo dos Santos' presidency and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Cochan Group,one of the top economic groups in Angola. He embezzled billions and was sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury in 2021.
Banco Económico,formerly Banco Espírito Santo Angola (BESA) renamed in 2015,after the bankruptcy of its mother house in Portugal,Banco Espírito Santo (BES),is an Angolan bank based in Luanda. Previously,BESA was affiliated with the now defunct Banco Espírito Santo,now Novo Banco,and is therefore a subsidiary of Espírito Santo Financial Group (ESFG).
