Angola's adjacent president, Joao Lourenco, is a ruling political party loyalist together with onetime full general who endured several years out of favour after fishing for the overstep project inwards the 1990s.
Since then, Lourenco, 63, has convinced commutation regime players he is the correct human to succeed Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who has ruled the oil-rich southwest African acre for 38 years.
As the deputy president of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Republic of Angola (MPLA) -- together with defence forcefulness government minister until terminal calendar month -- Lourenco is instantly "part of the inner circle of power", said Didier Peclard, an Republic of Angola specialist at the University of Geneva.
The MPLA won Wednesday's election, carrying Lourenco to ability every bit the party's presidential candidate.
It was something of a turnaround for a human whose ambition around ended his career inwards the 1990s when Dos Santos hinted he mightiness stand upward down. Lourenco failed to enshroud his wishing to succeed him.
Dos Santos, believing the onetime full general was beingness opportunistic, forced Lourenco into several years of "political purgatory", according to Peclard.
His apparent flirtation with resignation had been exactly "a political manoeuvre to pick out those inwards the political party with ambitions out of the woodwork, together with Joao Lourenco paid the price," he said.
- Soviet education -
Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco was born on March 5, 1954, inwards Lobito, inwards western Angola.
As a immature man, he fought against the hence colonial ability Portugal. After Republic of Angola won its independence inwards 1975, he fought inwards the civil state of war that erupted betwixt the MPLA authorities together with UNITA rebels.
Like Dos Santos, Lourenco studied inwards the onetime Soviet Union, which trained a unwrap of rising immature African leaders during decolonisation.
He became political principal of the armed fly of the MPLA inwards the civil state of war -- a Cold War proxy conflict that drew inwards Cuban forces to manage with the MPLA, spell CIA-backed militias opposed them.
In 1984, he was appointed governor of the eastern tell of Moxico, Angola's largest, chop-chop rising through the MPLA hierarchy.
The ex-artillery full general subsequently led his party's grouping inwards parliament earlier becoming deputy speaker of the National Assembly.
His appointment every bit defence forcefulness government minister inwards 2014 secured his seat every bit favoured successor to Dos Santos.
Now that he is to travel president, his main challenge may last Angola's shift to free-market capitalism at a fourth dimension when volatile oil prices are taking a heavy toll on the crude-dependent economy.
- 'Hardline MPLA general' -
Lourenco "has a reasonable reputation every bit a moderate, non an extreme character," said Soren Kirk Jensen of the Chatham House query grouping inwards London.
"He is in all likelihood the correct mortal to last the twosome every bit Republic of Angola goes through a transition."
Rumours abound that Dos Santos had hoped to paw over the reins of ability to 1 of his children, 1 of whom, Isabel dos Santos, is Africa's outset billionaire adult woman according to Forbes magazine.
But Jensen said that "there is speculation that high-ranked people inwards the political party seat their human foot downwards against this."
Opponents of Dos Santos's all-powerful regime believe Lourenco offers piffling promise of existent modify inwards Angola.
Activist together with journalist Rafael Marques, a leading regime critic, said Lourenco was at pump "a hardline MPLA general".
Former political prisoner Nuno Alvaro Dala said that nether Lourenco "power inwards Republic of Angola volition proceed to last militarised".
He is married to Ana Dias Lourenco, a onetime government minister who too represented Republic of Angola at the World Bank. They accept half dozen children.
AFP