Dos Santos banks election win in a very Angolan political transition

President José Eduardo dos Santos and his Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA) party mobilised the apparel of state (along with Brazilian election experts and a massive birthday bash for the 70-year-old leader) to secure a landslide in the 31 August general election. The MPLA may not win as much as the 82% it won in 2008, but it will have gained enough votes to legitimise dos Santos’ 33-year rule – at least in the eyes of Angolan power-brokers – and open the way for peaceful political transition.