Angola to hold parliamentary election on August 31

Lisbon, 24 May – (ANA) - Angola will hold a parliamentary election on August 31 that is likely to confer another term in office on President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, leader of Africa's second biggest oil-producer for the last 32 years.

A government statement said the President had decided on the date after a meeting of the Council of the Republic, an advisory board whose 19 members include senior government officials, opposition leaders and judges.

The election will only be Angola's second after the end of a 27-year civil war in 2002. Dos Santos' MPLA won the civil war against rebel group UNITA and then crushed its rivals in a 2008 election, obtaining 82 percent of the votes. (ANA)

FA/ANA/24 May 2012------------------------------