After many years of conflict that weakened all of the insurgent parties, Angola gained independence on 11 November 1975, after the Carnation Revolution overthrew the Marcelo Caetano regime in Portugal.

After many years of conflict that weakened all of the insurgent parties, Angola gained independence on 11 November 1975, after the Carnation Revolution in Portugal overthrew the Portuguese regime headed by Marcelo Caetano.

This failure to agree, which resulted in a devastating civil war that lasted several decades, claimed millions of lives and producing many refugees before it ended in 2002.

With the support of the United States, Zaire and South Africa intervened militarily in favour of the FNLA and UNITA, with the intention of taking Luanda before the declaration of independence.

With Cuban support, the MPLA held Luanda and declared independence on 11 November 1975, with Agostinho Neto becoming the first president, although the civil war continued.

The Constitution provided numerous guarantees of individual freedom and prohibited discrimination based on color, race, ethnic identity, sex, place of birth, religion, level of education, and economic or social status.

It also emphasized the preeminence of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) as a policy-making body and made the government subordinate to it, responsible for implementing party policy.

[5] Other constitutional guarantees included health care, access to education, and state assistance in childhood, motherhood, disability, and old age.

Social goals included combating illiteracy, promoting the development of education and a national culture, and enforcing strict separation of church and state, with official respect for all religions.

[9] The vote in the national assembly was boycotted by the opposition (UNITA) party, which claimed that the constitutional process had been flawed and undermined democracy.

[10] However, "The ruling MPLA says the constitution will increase democracy, but by abolishing the presidential ballot and concentrating all the power on the president it will do exactly the opposite," Fernando Macedo, a political analyst in Luanda, said after the vote.

[14] UNITA member Raul Danda stated that the constitution was "a complete fraud" and that his party was wearing black "because it's like going to the graveyard to bury democracy".

[10] UNITA's parliamentary leader, Alda Juliana Paulo Sachiambo, also spoke out against the new constitution saying that it gave "excessive executive power" to dos Santos.

[15] The head of Katiava Bwila University, political scientist Paulo de Carvalho, spoke out against UNITA's concerns in defense of the Constitution.

[12] There was speculation that this delay was intended to avoid public debate on the matter by holding the vote at the same time that Angola hosts the 2010 African Cup of Nations.