Government, Political Parties

The country’s dominant political party originated in 1956 as the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). In 1977 it was reorganized as a Marxist-Leninist Party and renamed the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola-Labor Party; in April 1991 it formally renounced its Marxist orientation. Its rival, founded in 1966, is UNITA, which waged guerrilla warfare against the MPLA beginning in 1975, when Angola became independent. Numerous smaller parties also exist, including the Angolan Democratic Forum, the Democratic Renewal Party, the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (Frente Nacional de Libertacao de Angola, or FNLA), and the Angola Youth, Worker, Peasant Alliance Party.