Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos (born 5 March 1950), known as Nandó, is an

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

n politician who was the first

vice president of Angola The vice president of Angola is the second highest political position in Angola; it is the deputy to the head of state, and is appointed by the president. The position was established by the constitution of 2010. Vice presidents of Angola (2010� ...

from February 2010 to September 2012. He was the

prime minister of Angola The prime minister of Angola was a high government official in Angola re-established by Angola's 1992 constitution with limited powers as head of government. Along with the rest of the Council of Ministers, the prime minister was appointed by ...

from 2002 to 2008 and president of the

National Assembly of Angola The National Assembly ( pt, Assembleia Nacional) is the legislative branch of the government of Angola. Angola is a unicameral country so the National Assembly is the only legislative chamber at the national level. The 220 members of the Natio ...

from 2008 to 2010. He has again served as president of the National Assembly from 2012 to 2022.

Background

Piedade is a cousin of President

José Eduardo dos Santos José Eduardo dos Santos (; 28 August 1942 – 8 July 2022) was the president of Angola from 1979 to 2017. As president, dos Santos was also the commander-in-chief of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) and president of the People's Movement for ...

. His parents emigrated to Angola from São Tomé and Príncipe. He obtained a BA in Law in 2009 at

Agostinho Neto University The Agostinho Neto University ( pt, Universidade Agostinho Neto) is the largest public university of Angola, based in Luanda and in the nearby city of Talatona, in Angola. In the academic year 2005–06, 68 licensing courses were ministered b ...

in Angola. In 1971, Piedade joined the

Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola ( pt, Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola, Abbreviation, abbr. MPLA), for some years called the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola – Labour Party (), is an Angolan left-wi ...

(MPLA). Following Angola's independence from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

in 1975 he began a career in the

People's Police Corps of Angola People's, branded as ''People's Viennaline'' until May 2018, and legally ''Altenrhein Luftfahrt GmbH'', is an Austrian airline headquartered in Vienna. It operates scheduled and charter passenger flights mainly from its base at St. Gallen-Alten ...

, becoming a division head in 1978. In 1981 he moved to the Ministry of the Interior, becoming Deputy Minister in 1984. The following year he was elected as a member of the MPLA-Workers' Party congress and given the rank of colonel in the Angolan military. He later became a member of the People's Assembly, beginning a succession of appointments to government ministerial posts. After having served as Interior Minister since 1999, Piedade was appointed as Prime Minister in November 2002 and took office on December 6, 2002. The office of Prime Minister had previously been unoccupied for three years. Piadade was the 14th candidate on the MPLA's national list in the September 2008 legislative election.List of deputies elected in the 2008 election
CNE website . In the election, the MPLA won an overwhelming majority, and Piedade was elected to a seat in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

. Following the 2008 election, the MPLA Political Bureau chose Piedade to become the President of the National Assembly on September 26, 2008. It also chose

Paulo Kassoma António Paulo Kassoma (born 6 June 1951) is an Angolan politician. He was named Prime Minister of Angola in September 2008 and remained in office until the new constitution replaced this function in February 2010.Manuel Vicente Manuel Domingos Vicente (born 15 May 1956) is an Angolan politician who served as the vice president of Angola between September 2012 and September 2017. Previously he was chief executive officer of Sonangol, Angola's state oil company, from 19 ...

, who had headed the state oil company

Sonangol Group Sonangol ( pt, Grupo Sonangol) is a parastatal that formerly oversaw petroleum and natural gas production in Angola. The group consisted of Sonangol E.P. ( pt, Sociedade Nacional de Combustíveis de Angola, E.P.) and its many subsidiaries. ...

, was believed to have been selected by the President as his likely successor. Vicente was designated as the second candidate on the MPLA's list of parliamentary candidates, making him the party's nominee for the post of Vice-President. Following the MLPA's victory in the 2012 legislative election, Vicente took office as Vice President on 26 September 2012, succeeding Piedade. A day later, on 27 September 2012, Piedade was instead elected as President of the National Assembly."Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos elected Speaker of National Assembly"
, Angola Press Agency, 27 September 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santos, Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Prime Ministers of Angola Presidents of the National Assembly (Angola) 1950 births Living people Vice presidents of Angola Interior ministers of Angola MPLA politicians Agostinho Neto University alumni 21st-century Angolan politicians