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Angola is preparing to hold its first parliamentary elections in 16 years. The long-ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola regime will use the September elections to consolidate its power both at home and abroad. (With Stratfor map)

A coalition of opposition political parties in Angola will convene a strategy convention May 15 to contest parliamentary elections slated for September, the Angola Press Agency reported April 29. The convention comprises a coalition of lesser Angolan political parties led by the National Democratic Convention of Angola (CNDA) party. Parliamentary elections in Angola will be the country’s first since 1992, and are expected to be followed by presidential elections in 2009.

Despite the opposition efforts, however, Angola’s long-ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) party is fully expected to retain its strong majority in parliament. The party will use its projected election victory to reinforce its legitimacy and to attempt to join the ranks of Africa’s leading powers.

The MPLA has ruled Angola (largely without holding elections) since the country gained independence from Portugal in 1975, and Jose Eduardo Dos Santos has been Angola’s president since 1979. The party is using the upcoming revival of the electoral process to ensure its enemies lack the will and means to disrupt its economic support base or upset its aim of using that wealth to become a power in Africa to be reckoned with.