LUANDA, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Angolan President Joao Lourenco on Saturday refuted claims of a division within the ruling party between the supposed "Eduardists" and "Lourencists."
Lourenco, also vice-president of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) said the idea just aims to divide the party's militants.
He was speaking at the opening of the 2nd National Methodological Meeting on the Organization of the Work of the Party.
"This does not exist in our party, there are only MPLA members, because we defend all MPLA and its causes," said Lourenco.
The ruling party in Angola since 1975 recently strengthened the calls for unity at a time when some circles of the Angolan society, including some MPLA militants, openly criticized an alleged double leaderships between Lourenco and Jose Eduardo dos Santos, leader of the party since 1979.
At the ordinary meeting of the Central Committee held on Friday, dos Santos, who in 2016 had announced that he would leave active political life this year, proposed holding an extraordinary congress for December 2018 or April 2019.
