Politics & Power Quote by Jose Eduardo Dos Santos

“Embarrassing” is doing a lot of political work here: it turns a structural power complaint into a matter of dignity. Coming from Jose Eduardo dos Santos, Angola’s long-serving head of state, the line reads less like a lament and more like a pressure tactic. By framing the presidency as trapped by “current constitutional law,” he shifts the source of dysfunction away from the executive and onto the rules of the game - rules that can be rewritten.

The specific intent is to build legitimacy for constitutional change without sounding nakedly power-hungry. “Embarrassing situation” suggests a president forced into awkward compromises, unable to govern decisively, perhaps caught between formal limits and informal expectations. That’s the subtext: the office is being asked to deliver outcomes it isn’t legally equipped to guarantee, so the law must “catch up” to political reality.

It also smuggles in a paternal claim common to post-liberation regimes: stability requires a strong center. In countries where institutions are young and party structures dominate, constitutional friction can be recast as national risk. The phrase invites the public to sympathize with the leader’s predicament rather than scrutinize the leader’s reach.

Context matters: Dos Santos governed through civil war and reconstruction, in a system often criticized for executive dominance and weak checks. When a statesman like this calls the constitution “embarrassing,” it’s rarely about personal discomfort; it’s about authority. The line works because it sounds modest - almost self-deprecating - while quietly arguing for a presidency less constrained, more insulated, and harder to challenge.