João Lourenço
João Lourenço | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President of Angola Elect | |
| Assuming office 21 September 2017 | |
| Vice President | Bornito de Sousa (Elect) |
| Succeeding | José Eduardo dos Santos |
| Minister of National Defense | |
| Assumed office 22 April 2014 | |
| President | José Eduardo dos Santos |
| Preceded by | Cândido Pereira dos Santos Van-Dúnem |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 5 March 1954 Lobito, Portuguese Angola (now Angola) |
| Political party | MPLA |
| Spouse(s) | Ana Afonso Dias Lourenço (Divorced) |
| Children | 6 |
| Alma mater | Industrial Institute of Luanda Lenin Superior Academy |
| Nickname | JLo[1] |
João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço (born 5 March 1954) is an Angolan politician who has been Minister of Defense of Angola since April 2014[2] and Vice-President of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the ruling party, since 2016. Previously he was Secretary-General of the MPLA from 1998 to 2003. João Lourenço stood as the presidential candidate of the MPLA in the August 2017 legislative election. As the party won a majority of 150 seats it is expected that Laurenço will be sworn in as as the 3rd President of Angola, succeeding José Eduardo dos Santos, who has been in power since 1979.[3]
Early life
Born in 1954, Lourenço grew up in a politically engaged family of ten children. His father, Sequeira João Lourenço (1923-1999),[4] a native of Malanje, was a nurse and nationalist, who served three years of imprisonment for illegal political activity.[5] His mother, Josefa Gonçalves Cipriano Lourenço (1928-1998),[6] a seamstress, was a native of Namibe.[7] He received primary and secondary education in Bié Province and Luanda.[8]
Education and military career
Lourenço studied at the Industrial Institute of Luanda and later participated in the liberation struggle in Ponta Negra, in August 1974, where he was part of the first group of MPLA soldiers to enter Angolan territory via Miconge, towards the city of Cabinda after the fall of the Portuguese colonial regime.[9]
He began his military career fighting against the Portuguese in the Angolan War of Independence and fought as a member of the MPLA in the Angolan Civil War.[10] Lourenço conducted his training in artillery and then became a political officer in the MPLA. In 1978, Lourenço traveled to the Soviet Union and studied at the Lenin Higher Academy, where he further his military training and completed a master's degree in Historical Sciences.[9] He later returned to Angola in 1982. Now an artillery general, Lourenço turned towards politics and in 1984 was appointed as Governor of Moxico Province.[11]
Political career
Lourenço's early politics were mainly confined within the MPLA as an officer responsible for keeping guerrilla soldiers' morale high. Following his appointment as Governor of Moxico Province in 1984, he continued to rise through the ranks of the ruling party.[10][12] He also served as the provincial commissioner of Moxico Province for the MPLA, president of the Regional Military Council of the 3rd Military Political Region, First Secretary of MPLA and Provincial Commissioner of Benguela Province.[9] He was the MPLA's Secretary for Information from 1992 to 1997 and President of the MPLA Parliamentary Group in the National Assembly from 1993 to 1998.[13]
At a party congress, he was elected as Secretary-General of the MPLA on 12 December 1998. His election was said to be linked to the favor of President Jose Eduardo dos Santos and it was thought that Lourenço could potentially succeed the long-ruling dos Santos at some point.[14] However, after dos Santos said in 2001 that he would not seek re-election as President,[15] Lourenço openly expressed an interest in becoming the MPLA's presidential candidate and thereby damaged his standing with dos Santos, who apparently had no real intention of leaving office.[10][16] Juilão Mateus Paulo succeeded him as MPLA Secretary-General at a December 2003 party congress.[16]
Lourenço was First Vice-President of the National Assembly from 2003 to 2014.[13] He was appointed as Minister of Defense in 2014,[10] and he was designated as Vice-President of the MPLA in August 2016.[17]
In December 2016 the MPLA designated Lourenço as the party's top candidate for the 2017 legislative election, and therefore its presidential candidate.[18]
Personal life
He was married to Ana Afonso Dias Lourenço, a Member of Parliament of the MPLA and former Minister of Planning, who held a position at the World Bank in Washington until October 2016. They have six children.
References
- ^ "Joao Lourenco: Can 'Angola's JLo' fill Dos Santos' shoes?". BBC News. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
- ^ "Angola: Presidente nomeia João Lourenço para ministro da Defesa Nacional" (in Portuguese). Agência Angola Press. 22 April 2014.
- ^ "Defence minister to succeed Angola's dos Santos". Daily Nation. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
- ^ "Sequeira João Lourenço, 1923 - 1999". My Heritage.
- ^ "Angola : qui est Joao Lourenço, l'ancien général désigné comme successeur de Dos Santos ?" (in French). Jeune Afrique. 4 February 2017.
- ^ "Josefa Gonçalves Cipriano Lourenço (born Cipriano), 1928 - 1998". My Heritage.
- ^ "Huíla: João Lourenço entre en pré-campagne" (in French). Agência Angola Press. 18 February 2017.
- ^ "JOÃO LOURENÇO COMANDA CAMPANHA DO "M"" (in Portuguese). OPAÍS. 10 February 2017.
- ^ a b c Steven Mufson (18 February 2017). "Quem é João Lourenço, o homem que irá suceder a José Eduardo dos Santos?" (in Portuguese). OBS.
- ^ a b c d "Lourenco: Ex-general poised to be Angola's next leader", Agence France-Presse, 3 February 2017.
- ^ "Angola's new 'president in waiting'". Deutsche Welle. 3 February 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Steven Mufson (21 May 2017). "After 37 years, Angola will get a new president. Can Joao Lourenco reduce widespread corruption?". The Washington Post. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b Kumuênho da Rosa and João Dias, "João Lourenço é o candidato escolhido pelo MPLA", Jornal de Angola, 4 February 2017 Template:Pt icon.
- ^ "MPLA chooses new Secretary General", Angola Peace Monitor, 28 December 1998.
- ^ "Dos Santos to bow out", IRIN, 24 August 2001.
- ^ a b "Dos Santos at the helm", IRIN, 17 December 2003.
- ^ "Nova liderança no MPLA, João Lourenço é o novo vice-presidente", Voice of America, 23 August 2016 Template:Pt icon.
- ^ Herculano Coroado, "Angola's Dos Santos not up for re-election in 2017 - party document", Reuters, 3 December 2016.
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