All eyes on key poll

It is a contest that will be familiar to many – not just in Angola but in every country across Africa where anyone remembers the cold war. The Guardian reports that it pits the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the political party that has ruled the Southern African country for more than four decades, against the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita), which has been battling to gain control for more than 50 years. The report says these parties are no longer fighting a military battle, but vying for the backing of 9m voters as Angola goes to the polls on Wednesday to elect a new President. The country's civil war lasted more than 25 years, ending in 2002, leaving it devastated. Since then more than $100bn has been spent on reconstruction. ‘It would be extremely surprising if the MPLA loses power, but this is the first time in the past 40 years where there is uncertainty over what happens next,’ said Soren Kirk Jensen, an expert on Angola at the independent policy institute Chatham House. One major change will follow the poll. After 38 years in power, José Eduardo dos Santos is not seeking re-election. The 74-year-old has guided the MPLA from hardline Marxism to a rapacious capitalism that enemies say has been tarnished by cronyism, nepotism and corruption. Now, weakened by illness, he is stepping down.

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