Angola’s powerful president to quit after 36 years in office

LUANDA: Angola’s powerful veteran President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, Africa’s second-longest serving leader after 36 years at the helm, on Friday said he would leave politics in 2018, after his current mandate ends.
“I have taken the decision to quit political life in 2018,” he told the ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) party politburo in the capital Luanda.
The 73-year-old has been in office just one month less than Africa’s record-holder, Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema.
The Angolan leader’s tenure ends in late 2017, but he did not indicate why he would leave the year after. Analysts suggest he may run for re-election, leaving only once he feels secure about the future.
In power for almost four decades as president, dos Santos has consolidated political power in his time in office while his family has amassed a vast business empire.
He added another five years to his reign by taking a large victory in a disputed election in 2012, but since has faced growing discontent from the nation’s youth.
Critics accuse dos Santos of overseeing corruption, misrule, arbitrary arrests and intimidation.