Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola

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The Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola ( MPLA ; German  People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola ) was one of the three most important Angolan liberation movements against the colonial power Portugal and has been the ruling party of Angola since the country's independence (1975) . It was able to maintain its position of political power even after the introduction of the multi-party system in 1990 and has ruled the country up to the present with a seemingly relatively stable absolute majority.

Originally founded as a Marxist or communist movement, the MPLA has moved increasingly closer to social democratic positions in its political orientation over the years .

history

The flag of the MPLA became the basis for the flag of Angola

The MPLA was founded in 1956 and was mainly, but by no means exclusively, recruited from the Ambundu who lived in the area from Luanda to Malange , but also from the mixed-race population and a minority of the Angola Portuguese. 1961-74 she waged a guerrilla war against the Portuguese colonial power, where she was supported mainly by the USSR and Cuba . With their help, the MPLA was able to gain the upper hand over the rival movements FNLA and UNITA after the now democratic Portugal decided to withdraw from its colonies after the 1974 Carnation Revolution . On November 11, 1975, the MPLA proclaimed the independence of the People's Republic of Angola. It also appointed the first president, Agostinho Neto , and introduced a one-party system modeled on that of the then socialist countries of Europe. However, it immediately faced the armed opposition of UNITA and FNLA and civil war broke out in Angola .

From the beginning there were fights within the MPLA in which Agostinho Neto enforced his supremacy with a hard hand, often through bloody suppression. After his death in 1979, however, the MPLA developed over the course of a decade from a communist - socialist party to a social democratic party. In 1990 she changed the constitution and introduced a multi-party system . In the subsequent elections, it won an absolute majority in parliament - against its rivals from the anti-colonial war and some newly founded parties. In the simultaneous presidential elections, MPLA chairman and president José Eduardo dos Santos (selected after Agostinho Netos's death) received a relative, but not an absolute, majority against Jonas Savimbi , chairman of UNITA. The latter did not recognize the election results and immediately resumed the war.

José Eduardo dos Santos, chairman of the MPLA and from 1979 to 2017 President of the Republic of Angola, thus also head of government and commander-in-chief of the armed forces (photo from 2014)

After Savimbi's death in 2002, the MPLA did not hold parliamentary elections again until 2008, in which it received almost 82 percent of the vote. Nobody expected a result of this magnitude, and in election analyzes both inside and outside the MPLA it was primarily explained by the low credibility of the other parties, especially UNITA and FNLA . The achievements in building up the country had a secondary impact, which could not be overlooked in many parts of the country, but left a lot to be desired and were overshadowed by flagrant abuses (corruption, social inequality, poor functioning of the state apparatus and public companies) . With its new majority, it implemented a new constitution in 2010, according to which the chairman and vice-chairman of the strongest party in parliament automatically become president and vice-president, respectively. Since at the same time the separation of powers has largely been abolished, the MPLA has effectively secured the role of a state party for the foreseeable future. In 2009–2012, out of her instinct for self-preservation, she tried harder to combat the deficiencies in further reconstruction and rebuilding, without, however, calling into question the authoritarian character of the regime.

New parliamentary elections were held in 2012. Contrary to previous statements, José Eduardo dos Santos was again the MPLA's lead candidate. Its share of the vote fell slightly, to around 72%, but it retained its dominant position and ensured that its chairman remains President. The party was hit hard, however, by the fact that in the centrally important capital province of Luanda , where a quarter of the total population of the country is concentrated, the abstention was 42% and the opposition parties together received around 40% of the votes - so only around 25% of eligible voters decided for the MPLA.

In the 2017 elections, the MPLA received around 65% of the vote and thus again an absolute majority. After President dos Santos resigned from office, João Lourenço was the top candidate and therefore, after the election victory, the designated successor to the long-term president, who, however, retained the party chairmanship.

literature

  • Mauricio José Barros: The Development of the National Liberation Movement in Angola. A critical consideration. Berlin 1977.
  • Bettina ceiling: a terra é nossa: Colonial society and liberation movement in Angola. Southern Africa Information Center, Bonn 1981.
  • Jean-Michel Mabeko Tali: Dissidências e poder de Estado: O MPLA perante si próprio (1966–1977). Nzila, Luanda 2001.
  • Jean Martial Arsène Mbah: As rivalidades políticas entre a FNLA eo MPLA (1961–1975). Mayamba, Luanda 2012.
  • Lúcio Lara: To amplo movimento: Itinerário do MPLA através de documentos e anotações. Volume I, Até Fevereiro de 1961. 2nd edition, self-published by Lúcio & Ruth Lara, Luanda 1998; Volume II, 1961-1962. Self-published by Lúcio Lara, Luanda 2006; Volume III, 1963-1964. Self-published by Lúcio Lara, Luanda 2008.
  • Inge Brinkmann: War, Witches and Traitors: Cases from the MPLA's Eastern Front in Angola (1966–1975). In: Journal of African History. 44, 2003, pp. 303-325.
  • Fernando Tavares Pimenta: Angola no percurso de um nacionalista: Conversas com Adolfo Maria. Afrontamento, Porto 2010.
  • Dalila Cabrita Mateus, Álvaro Mateus: Purga em Angola. Edições Asa, Lisbon 2007.
  • Fátima Salvaterra Peres: A Revolta Activa: Os conflitos identitários no contexto da luta de libertação (em Angola). Master's thesis, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2010.

Further reading in the articles Angola , History of Angola and Civil War in Angola

Web links

Commons : MPLA  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See the careful reconstruction of this phase, made by the then General Secretary of the MPLA, Lúcio Lara: Associação Tchiweka de Documentação, Lúcio Lara (Tchiweka) 80 anos: Imagens de um percurso até à conquista da independência . Edições ATD, Luanda 2010.
  2. ↑ See Franz-Wilhelm Heimer : The decolonization conflict in Angola . Weltforum Verlag, Munich 1979.
  3. ↑ It is significant that almost all "small parties" have disappeared from parliament that previously had up to three members and were thus able to speak. The best example is the FpD (Frente para a Democracia) supported by intellectuals, which excelled in the plenary debates and committees through its expertise, but was hardly able to assert itself.
  4. ^ BTI 2014 - Angola Country Report. bti-project.org, archived from the original on April 1, 2012 ; Retrieved June 25, 2015 .
  5. ^ Total Nacional. eleicoes2012.cne.ao, archived from the original on September 23, 2015 ; Retrieved June 25, 2015 .
  6. ↑ Comment: Angola does not only need democracy on election day. dw.com on August 24, 2017, accessed on August 24, 2017