Mozambique - The year of the Presidential Elections This year´s presidential election has led to ripples of unease surfacing from under an uncustomary layer of pre-election calm. The IMF has voiced its acknowledgement of the uncertainty this year´s elections will bring, as well as the European Union calling for a peaceful transition from one leader to the next. The vast economic growth driven by resource discoveries, as well as political discontent illustrated in demonstrations which took place around the country in 2013, show that there is a lot riding on this year´s elections. Those who have a vested interest in seeing Mozambique prosper, for whom reverting back to the country´s previous longstanding security and stability is essential, getting the right Frelimo candidate to run for election seems to be half the battle. It is widely accepted that Mozambique has not reached the stage where an alternative party could come into power over the incumbent Frelimo, winner of all four national elections in the countrys democratic era.. Nonetheless, the ruling party seems to be edging closer towards the risk of a split as the time for choosing a candidate approaches. 2014´s elections were perceived as being the year which would allow the next generation of Frelimo party members to come in. The “old” Frelimo party being made up of old militants and war veterans, including Guebuza sympathizers or “marionettes”. On the other side, there is the “new” generation who sympathize more with the Samora and Chissano presidencies. As such, the current names put forward by the Political Party Commission have left many feeling as though they have been left with no choice but to vote for sympathizers of the Guebuza era: Alberto Vaquina, Prime Minister, José Pacheco, Minister of Agriculture, and Filipe Nyhussi, Minister of Defense. Moreover, simultaneous campaigns to put forth alternative pre-candidates have been circulating on social networks sites, some believed to have been created by ex-military and non-military personnel; Eneas Comiche, Eduardo Mulembwe, Ayres Aly and Luisa Diogo are the four favourites in this category. Whilst none of these politicians have identified themselves personally with these underground campaigns, the support galvanized has been significant. The Eneas Comiche page has 45,691 likes on Facebook, whilst Luisa Dias Diogo alone has 14,987. Particularly Luisa Diogo has, over the past week, appeared in several analyses featured in national papers e.g. ´O Pais´ and ´Noticias´. There have been numerous sources confirming Mozambique´s first First Lady Graça Machel, another candidate favoured to run for the presidency, backing the pro-Diogo campaign. Luisa Diogo, born on the 11 of April 1958 in Mágoè, graduated from University Eduardo Mondlane in 1983 and concluded her master’s degree in Economics at the University of London in 1992. She worked for the Ministry of Finance from 1980, simultaneously working for the World Bank in 1993 and 1994. She has received numerous acknowledgements worldwide from publications including Time Magazine and Forbes. Nonetheless, the question remains whether or not alternative candidates will be accepted to run after the “official” decision. Seminal paper “Mediafax” published an in depth interview with ex-combatant and now famous Mozambican intellectual Sergio Viera, whereby he claimed nobody could limit the Central Committees final choice. “They have the final say on who is put forward for the presidential election,” confirmed Viera. Commenting on whether or not she would be the right candidate to be put forth as president, Luisa Diogo says “the party should do as they have always done up until now and do so in a way which satisfies all Mozambicans.” This seems a somewhat ambiguous comment after Diogo having many times confirmed her availability to run for office. With less than a month to go, the final decision on the Frelimo presidential candidate will be announced on February the 28th.
Posted on: Sun, 11 May 2014 21:42:32 +0000
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