Main opposition to elect new president by year end

The leadership of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) intends to hold its extraordinary congress to elect the party's new president by the end of the year, though it has not found an ideal date for the event, according to party spokesperson Alcides Sakala.

The party needs to choose a new president after the incumbent Isaias Samakuva decided to step down.

Regarding the candidates, Sakala said that all qualified UNITA members may run for the party's leadership.

"UNITA has many cadres capable of running our historic party," added Sakala, who did not say whether he would join the competition.

The veteran leader of Angola's largest opposition party announced on September 27 that he would step down to allow someone else to keep the new government of President João Lourençoto account.

Among possible successors are Adalberto da Costa, who was the party's leader in parliament under the previous administration; Rafael Massanga Savimbi, son of UNITA's founder; and Lukamba Paulo, a former secretary-general of the party who lost a leadership election against Samakuva in 2003. – Nampa/Xinhua