Africa Monitor Intelligence

Angola: Constitution Revision Calculated to Give Lourenço Political Initiative

JOÃO LOURENÇO's (JL) initiative to present a proposal for a specific revision of the Constitution was calculated to allow him to recover the political initiative - a condition considered essential to the creation of an environment conducive to the recovery from the attacks to which he has been subject, with harmful effects on his popularity and internal acceptance.
A simple amendment to the constitution aimed at addressing objections from the IMF and the US Federal Reserve regarding the current model of administrative autonomy of the central bank (BNA), was in recent weeks taken for granted in the regime's political circles. Both institutions had been conditioning the future progress of ongoing programs with Angola to a change in the model established in the Constitution.
Taking advantage of the opportunity to make other constitutional changes, generally in the political interest of JL and the regime, was the idea of ​​the "hard core". There are indications that CARLOS FEIJÓ and ADÃO de ALMEIDA were the "experts" who gave shape to the suggested amendments. READ MORE