AJUDEM accuses opponents of harassing candidates – AIM report

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AJUDEM accuses opponents of harassing candidates – AIM report

7:41 CAT | 22 Aug 2018

Langa said that AJUDEM candidates are being interrogated about why they joined the movement. They “have faced threats of losing their jobs and their positions in the public administration, among other forms of coercion”, he accused. Photo: O País

Zefanias Langa, the election agent for the Youth Association for the Development of Mozambique (AJUDEM) has accused “political opponents” of putting pressure on AJUDEM election candidates to abandon the AJUDEM list for the 10 October municipal elections in Maputo.

Langa thus joins several other AJUDEM spokespersons who have accused officials of the ruling Frelimo Party of “harassing” candidates.

“They are trying at all costs” to prevent AJUDEM from standing in the elections, accused Langa, cited in Wednesday’s issue of the independent daily “O Pais”.

AJUDEM is a coalition of civil society organisations, and it was little known until it invited Samora Machel Junior (“Samito”), the son of the country’s first President, to head its list of candidates – in the event of AJUDEM winning the election, Machel would become the next mayor of Maputo.

Machel is a member of the Frelimo Central Committee, and he had hoped to be the Frelimo mayoral candidate in Maputo. His supporters claim that the selection process was undemocratic and that he ought to have won.

Machel has not yet resigned from the Central Committee, although he is in clear violation of the Party’s statutes, which state that no Frelimo member can stand in elections for other parties or movements without the Party’s express authorisation.

To stand in Maputo, a party or movement needs to present a list with 64 full members (since that is the number of seats in the Municipal Assembly), plus at least three supplementary candidates – i.e. a total of 67.

AJUDEM delivered a list of 70 names to the National Elections Commission – but four of these now say they want to drop out, which would reduce the number of names to 66, and thus render the AJUDEM list ineligible.

But the attempts by the four to withdraw their names did not follow the procedure stipulated by the electoral law, and so the CNE has refused to remove them from the list. Instead, the CNE, in a decision announced on Monday said the four must submit signed letters of resignation, with the signatures recognised by a public notary. These letters must also be stamped by AJUDEM as proof that AJUDEM has seen them. The four have ten days to do this.

One such case was that of Gaspar Marques, who works in the Ministry of Land, Environment and Rural Development. Forced to choose between his job and remaining on the AJUDEM list, “obviously he preferred to keep his job”.

Langa said the other three (Yolanda Guibunda, Roberto Sipechele, and Anastacia Uamusse) were in a similar situation, although they allege their names were put on the AJUDEM list without their knowledge or consent.

AJUDEM rejects this claim, and points out that the nomination papers for all candidates include a copy of their criminal record, which they must apply for in person, mentioning why they need the document.

Langa said AJUDEM has no intention of giving up. “We are continuing to work hard, and yesterday we were meeting to discuss these matters”, he said. “We shall go to the end of our work. Our morale rises every time these situations occur. This is not going to make us stop”.

Source: AIM