Everyone knew that, sooner or later, the president and the ruling party would have to start giving some answers to the people, especially the questioning youth, about the past 35 years and the future of Angola. Here is a good update of the situation in that country by the Institute for Security Studies:   

Political Upheaval in Angola Ahead of 2012 Polls

Angola is due to hold presidential and parliamentary elections next year, and all indications are that tensions are mounting amidst varied incidents of political upheaval ahead of the polls. Both the ruling People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the opposition National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) are facing internal friction and possible leadership changes; while on the streets Angolans have been demonstrating with repeated fervor.

There are several points of contention that have sparked the recurrent demonstrations seen in Luanda since March this year. The major gripe is the excessive political power that resides in the presidency of Eduardo dos Santos that has resulted in poor levels of agency of the citizens of Angola by limiting their involvement in domestic political processes. Moreover, many Angolans decry their economic and political marginalisation, which has become evident in the low level of socio-economic development. Despite the strong economic growth that has taken place on the back of the oil industry, Angola still has some of the worst socio-economic indicators in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

President dos Santos has announced his successor to be Sonangol chief Manuel Vicente due to, it is speculated, the aforementioned demonstrations as well as internal debates surrounding succession in the party. Commentators suspect that this move is Dos Santos testing the waters and appeasing unhappy factions, yet doubt remains as to how certain succession will be and whether Vicente will thus be presented as the presidential candidate.

In spite of the many decades that Angola has enjoyed independence, the country has not yet been metamorphosed into that which was envisioned for the country at its birth. With the country being notoriously underdeveloped, without the liberty of the citizens to engage in political processes, it is clear that a close eye will need to be kept on developments in Angola in the coming months.

Full article by Lisa Otto, ISS: http://www.issafrica.org/iss_today.php?ID=1372