August 23, 2001
Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos yesterday evening made public he would not run for next year's presidential elections. Dos Santos (58) has ruled Angola since 1979. The Angolan President made this declaration on an MPLA (ruling) party meeting yesterday evening addressing the forthcoming election. "I have accomplished my mission," dos Santos said, adding that the competition among MPLA's presidential candidate could begin. Then he emphasized that "this candidate at this time will not will have the name José Eduardo dos Santos."
Dos Santos made his surprising statement as the date of the presidential elections were to be discussed. As the elections were to be held in 2002 - no later than 2003 - the party had only "one-and-a-half year or two-and-a-half year" to "start thinking about our candidates."
The Angolan president is the country's second, succeeding independence President Agostinho Neto in 1979 upon his unexpected death. Dos Santos is a former guerrilla fighter who for a long time headed the country as a Marxist dictator.
The incumbent President was last re-elected in 1992, when his MPLA party got 54 percent of the votes. At this time, war-torn Angola nourished a realistic hope of ending its brutal civil war and the rebel UNITA participated in the election. UNITA gaining only 34 percent of the poll however rejected the results of the vote and resumed the civil war.
Since the UN-monitored in 1992, thus, there have not been organised elections in Angola. After heavy military activity in 1998 and 1999, the National Assembly voted to postpone new elections indefinitely in June 1999, referring to "a political-military crisis". Loosely planned elections have since then been postponed several times.
The last military successes by the Angolan army this year point towards an end to the "political-military crisis", which, according to dos Santos "now is perfectly under control". This has motivated dos Santos to see his mission as "accomplished".
Although dos Santos claims the "political-military crisis" is "about to turn into total domination" by the government, the ongoing instability still constrains the fixing of a date for the upcoming elections. In his speech, dos Santos emphasised the difficulties needing to be overcome before an election can be held.
The President said these difficulties were "guaranteeing the free movement of people and goods throughout Angola, and the resettlement of people displaced by the war." More than 1 million Angolans have been displaced only since 1998 and some 25 years of civil war have claimed more than 500,000 lives.
While dos Santos says he will step down because he has done his job, rumours in the capital Luanda have for a long time had it that the president has prostate cancer. These rumours have however never been confirmed.
His announcement comes after a period of growing pressure for change within the party, especially from those who feel the government should be making more of an effort to seek a peaceful solution to the long-running civil conflict against UNITA. Critics have also been outspoken on human rights setbacks, a tighter government control of the press and an uncontrolled corruption.
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