The VIII Congress of the MPLA (AM 1330) was used by JOÃO LOURENÇO (JL) to neutralize a stronghold of supporters of JOSÉ EDUARDO dos SANTOS (JES) inside the Central Committee (CC) and Political Bureau (BP). In this effort, care was taken not to reinforce the perception that JL pursues internal opponents, that his detractors oppose to a less confrontational posture on the part of JES in the past.

Despite the official anti-corruption speech, a logic of non-confrontation presided over the reappointment to the BP and CC of some of the main cadres of the high hierarchy of the party directly or indirectly implicated in corruption processes.

Although the BP has now been expanded to 101 members, the restructuring of the Secretariat involved the return of cadres who had already left the party's political life, such as “Jú”, who recovers the supervision of political affairs, replacing MP. “Jú” is appointed as the most qualified MPLA staff in electoral matters, and is close to those responsible for SINFIC, a company that provides services for electoral registration issues in the country. READ MORE