TheCable

Angolans will on Wednesday cast their votes in a parliamentary election expected to usher in the ruling party’s defence minister as the first new leader of Africa’s second-biggest oil producer for 38 years.

Joao Lourenco would inherit an economy mired in recession as gaping inequality, soaring inflation, and high unemployment squeeze poor Angolans who have benefited little from a decades-long oil boom.

He has pledged to boost growth and fight corruption.

The People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) is expected to remain in power, but with a reduced majority.

Its support has waned due to widespread political cronyism, though many Angolans remain loyal to the party that emerged victorious from 27 years of civil war in 2002.

Questions have been raised as to how much power Lourenco will have if he wins, given veteran leader Jose Eduardo dos Santos, 74, will continue as head of the MPLA and have potentially a sweeping say over decision-making.

His daughter, Isabel, heads national oil producer, Sonangol, and his son, José Filomeno, is in charge of the state investment fund.

Lourenco on Tuesday dismissed suggestions he would be a puppet president, saying he would focus on leading an “economic miracle,” possibly with the help of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank as well prosecute corrupt politicians.

Dos Santos, Africa’s longest-ruling president behind Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema, will step down after guiding the OPEC-member from Marxism to capitalism while embracing Chinese oil-for-infrastructure investment.

The MPLA’s main opponent will be its former civil war foe, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), while young voters have been lured by CASA-CE, which was formed in 2012 on a promise to disrupt 50 years of two-party politics.

More than two-thirds of Angolans are below 25 so many people will be voting for the first time.