LUANDA: Angolans voted on Wednesday in an election marking the end of President Jose Eduardo dos Santos’s 38-year reign, with his MPLA party set to retain power despite an economic crisis.

The MPLA, which has ruled since Angola’s independence from Portugal in 1975, is expected to defeat opposition parties stifled by Dos Santos’s authoritarian regime.

Dos Santos’s unexpected retirement — reportedly prompted by poor health — has triggered the biggest political transition in decades for Angola, a leading African oil exporter.

His chosen successor, however, is Joao Lourenco, a party loyalist who served as defence minister until last month.

Lourenco is expected to avoid immediate change in a government often criticised for corruption and its failure to tackle dire poverty. “I am calm, I am going to stay calmly at home while waiting for my party colleagues to inform me of the results,” he said after voting in Luanda, adding that the election was “going smoothly.”

Polling stations started closing at 6pm (1700 GMT) and counting started immediately after. Early results are expected by Friday. Voter turnout appeared low in centres visited by AFP journalists in the capital Luanda.

Dos Santos’s long reign has seen the end of Angola’s bloody civil war that lasted from 1975 to 2002, and a post-conflict investment boom as the country exploited its oil reserves.

But the flood of money brought little benefit to Angola’s poor, and government spending collapsed when oil prices fell in 2014. Inflation hit 40 per cent at the end of last year, when annual growth was less than one percent.

Lourenco, 63, has vowed to boost foreign investment, and said he wants to be recognised as the man who brought an “economic miracle” to Angola.

“Dos Santos brought forward his departure to after these elections due to his deteriorating health,” said Alex Vines, of the Chatham House think-tank in London.

“Lourenco is an ideal transitional successor to Dos Santos. He is respected by the military and has not lived the flamboyant lifestyle of many others.”

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2017