* Angola to elect lawmakers, president on Friday
* Long-serving President Dos Santos expected to win
* Government has invested in rebuilding after long civil war
* Critics say it is corrupt, has done little for poor
By Shrikesh Laxmidas
HUAMBO, Angola, Aug 28 (Reuters) – A four-lane avenue separates the shelled ruins of the art deco Ruacana Cinema from Huambo’s shiny new Chinese-built railway station, a symbol of the leaps Angola has made to recover from a devastating 27-year civil war that ended a decade ago.
As Angolans prepare to go to the polls on Friday for only the second time since the end of the war, President Jose Eduardo dos Santos’s ruling MPLA party reminds them daily of the rewards of peace and boasts of its reconstruction achievements.
In power for nearly 33 years in Africa’s second-largest oil producer after Nigeria, Dos Santos – who turns 70 on Tuesday – is expected to lead his party to a one-sided election win thanks to his political dominance and his carefully cultivated official image as guarantor of Angola’s peace and rebuilding.
“We were at the abyss for a long time, now … we can see the great gains,” said Joao Limpinho, a government-employed signals manager at the railway terminal at Huambo, Angola’s second city, 600 kilometres (375 miles) southeast of Luanda.
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