Rejection of Venâncio Mondlane’s candidacy has “political motivations” – Renamo

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Rejection of Venâncio Mondlane’s candidacy has “political motivations” – Renamo

12:49 CAT | 22 Aug 2018

Renamo, the main Mozambican opposition party, yesterday accused the National Electoral Commission of Mozambique (CNE) of being a “source of conflict” during election periods, and said that the rejection of Venâncio Mondlane’s candidacy for Maputo was politically motivated.

“The only thing we can conclude is that this decision is politically motivated,” Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) spokesman José Manteigas told a press conference in Maputo.

Venancio Mondlane was barred from standing in the October 10 elections after a vote on Monday evening, following a challenge by his former party, the Movimento Democrático de Moçambique (MDM), who consider his candidacy illegal as he had resigned from Maputo Municipal Assembly in 2015.

According to Mozambican law, citizens who have resigned their immediately previous mandate are not eligible to stand for office.

Renamo’s Manteigas said the CNE ruling violated Venâncio Mondlane’s fundamental rights, as well as revealing the body as “a source of conflict during electoral periods in Mozambique”.

“Mozambicans are shocked by the rejection of Venâncio Mondlane’s candidacy,” he added, and the party was only waiting for the official communication from the CNE to appeal the decision.

“It is important to remember that the country is experiencing an exceptional degree of political understanding at the moment as a result of dialogue and consensus, and we urge the CNE not to continue to be a source of conflict during electoral periods,” Manteigas said.

In the process of voting on Monday, in addition to the MDM, representatives of the ruling Mozambican Liberation Front (Frelimo) party and civil society voted against Mondlane’s candidacy, with the case ending with nine votes against and seven in favour.

Venâncio Mondlane was an MDM deputy before in July being presented to the media by Renamo secretary-general Manuel Bissopo as a now member of the largest opposition party in Mozambique.

The reasons for Mondlane’s resignation from the MDM are unknown, but he refused to be nominated by the party in the municipal elections, saying he had not been consulted about the decision.

Mondlane, a politician known in urban centres of Mozambique for his rhetoric, was MDM candidate Maputo in the 2013 municipal elections, but was defeated by Frelimo’s David Simango in a hotly contested ballot.

In addition to Mondlane, Silvério Ronguane, the MDM candidate for Matola municipality, is also among those who could be barred from the electoral race, but his case was not considered because his candidacy had not been challenged.

The municipal elections in Mozambique are scheduled for October 10.

Source: Lusa