Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Angola: Ruling Party Congress Marked By Economic Crisis
Luanda — The ruling MPLA party is opening its 7th ordinary congress on Wednesday in Luanda, at a time Angola is going through an economic and financial crisis that resulted from the steep fall in the crude oil price on the world market.

Therefore, the economic aspect will come high on the agenda for the meeting going until Saturday, with analysts considering this to be the congress of all decisions.

Representatives from the country's 18 provinces are attending the meeting, totalling 2,620 delegates elected from the provincial assemblies, earning the event a national dimension.

The 7th ordinary congress of the ruling MPLA party is awaited with much expectation in the country and abroad, as it is taking place at a time of economic crisis that worsens the living of the populations and precedes the general election of next year.

To political analyst Belarmino Van-Dúnem, the 7th ordinary congress of the ruling MPLA party will produce strategies that will bring the orgnisation closer to the populations and the reality of the Angolan people.

The event will analyse and approve the party leader's motion of strategy, the outgoing Central Committee's report on the 2009-2016 period, adjust the organisation's statutes and elect the MPLA president and the Central Committee.

The leader's motion of strategy is the document that defines the path for the party and State in the coming five years that will be marked by the general elections of 2017 MPLA is sure about winning.

And, in order to make its victory an announced fact, MPLA will work hard, starting by outlining the goals and defining forms of action, which is reflected on the leader's motion of strategy.

José Eduardo dos Santos is the only candidate for the ruling party's leadership. He was appointed by the organisation's leadership, with the support of the provincial assemblies. During the period open for candidatures, no other candidate stood.

Besides the election of the party's president, the event will also elect the Central Committee that has grown from 311 to 363 members. The list was governed by the principles of renewal and continuity, representativeness of the gender and youth.

The decision to expand the size of the Central Committee followed the need for a major interaction between young and older and more experienced militants, which is expected to impart a new dynamics to the party's structure.

Upon election of the party's president and of the new Central Committee, the latter will elect, during its first session, its Politburo members on proposal from the leader.

115 members have left the outgoing Central Committee. 56 joining the Central Committee during the congress opening today will be substitute members, 38 of whom appointed by the national organs and 18 from the provincial conferences.

Founded on December 10, 1956, under the name of "Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola", MPLA held its first ordinary congress in 1977. On that occasion, it became the Workers Party under late president António Agostinho Neto.

Other ordinary congresses followed in 1985, 1990, 1998, 2003 and 2009. Four extraordinary congresses were also held in 1980, 1991, 1992 and 2001, including three national conferences in 1985, 1997 and 2008.

No comments: