Angolans head to the polls on August 23 to elect a new president.
This is Angola’s fourth election since the return to multi-party democracy in 1992 after a years of civil war that ended with the signing of an accord in 1991.
Candidate dos Santos at the time went neck-a-neck with ex rebel leader Jonas Savimbi in the presidential race even though the MPLA swept 129 of the 220 seats in parliament.
Savimbi’s UNITA got 70 seats whiles the remaining was split among smaller parties at the time. The opposition strongly opposed the results at the time accusing the MPLA of fraud.
No elections were held after 1992 till 2008 because of the outbreak of the second civil war. The war continued till 2002, after it ended, plans began to organize new elections – registration delayed due to logistical constraints but the vote held in 2008.
The MPLA strengthened its grip on power whiles UNITA recorded heavy losses having lost over a third of their seats. They fell from 70 to 16 seats whiles the ruling party got 191 seats up from 129 in 1992.
With Savimbi and his deputy killed in the course of the civil war, the onus fell on Isias Samakuva, who has led the party since 2003. He is a candidate in the August 23 polls – his third shot at the seat.
In 2012 elections, fortunes seem to have turned as MPLA made losses while UNITA gained. The same number of seats were involved on both sides. Sixteen seats lost and 16 gained.
MPLA won 175 seats down from the 191 in 2008 whiles UNITA doubled its performance in 2008 by hitting 36 – a little over half of the 75 seats it held in 1992.
The Angolan system since 2008 is such that the votes of the parliamentary seats determines who emerges president. In that case, leader of whichever party that wins parliament automatically becomes president of Angola.
Angola electoral system: How parliament determines the president
Angolans have directly voted for president only once – in 1992 when multi-party politics was introduced. In 1992, separate ballots were cast for legislators and for president.
Voters have since elected the president indirectly based on parliamentary majority. Parliamentary elections in 2008 was won by the ruling MPLA whose leader at the time Jose Eduardo dos Santos was automatically named president.
In 2010, a new constitution was introduced. Under the terms of the new constitution, the leader of the party with the most seats in parliament automatically becomes president of the country.
The long-time president, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, will not be running for reelection after 38 years in power. Dos Santos, who is now 74, is Africa's second-longest-serving president. Only Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, has been in power for longer.
Dos Santos' successor and current defence minister Joao Lourenco will lead his party, the MPLA, in the upcoming vote.
Around nine million Angolans have registered to vote in the election.
Here are the six men hoping to succeed dos Santos
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