Angolan Ex-President Stands Down from Party

Angola’s ex-president José Eduardo dos Santos is standing down as the leader of the ruling party, Lusa news agency reports.

The Portuguese press reports that a statement from the governing MPLA says the party has agreed that the current president João Lourenço will take over from Mr Dos Santos in September.

Mr Dos Santos did not stand for election in August, after 38 years in power.

But when he stood down he retained his position as the leader of the MPLA.

Since Mr Lourenço took over as president, he sacked Mr Dos Santos’s son as the head of the sovereign wealth fund, sacked his daughter as the head of the state oil firm and terminated multiple government contracts with Mr Dos Santos’s other children.

Source: BBC