Samora Machel Junior condemns exclusion but calls for full participation in elections – Mozambique

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Samora Machel Junior condemns exclusion but calls for full participation in elections – Mozambique

8:25 CAT | 19 Sep 2018

Photo: Facebook

Samora Machel Junior (“Samito”), son of Mozambique’s first President, on Wednesday urged all Maputo citizens to vote in the municipal elections scheduled for 10 October, even though his own bid to stand as a mayoral candidate was rejected by the National Elections Commission (CNE) and by the Constitutional Council.

Speaking at a Maputo press conference, Machel said he took the decision to run as an independent after the Maputo leadership of his own party, the ruling Frelimo Party, had refused to allow his name to go to an internal Frelimo ballot. He believed his exclusion was “against the principles of the party”.

He had then accepted the invitation from AJUDEM (Youth Association for the Development of Mozambique), a coalition of civil society bodies close to Frelimo, to be their mayoral candidate. “This was not an easy decision”, he told the reporters.

The CNE, however, threw out the AJUDEM list for the municipal elections, because it did not contain enough candidates. Each list for the Maputo Municipal Assembly must have enough names for all 64 seats in the Assembly, plus at least three supplementary candidates.

AJUDEM did not have enough candidates – but AJUDEM argues that in part this was because the Frelimo Maputo leadership intimidated AJUDEM members into removing their names from the list, including with threats that they would lose their jobs.

The Constitutional Council, Mozambique’s highest body in matters of constitutional and electoral law, agreed with the CNE, and rejected an AJUDEM appeal. AJUDEM was not given a chance to replace those members who had dropped off the list.

Asked about the intimidation AJUDEM had suffered, Machel said Frelimo in Maputo had taken “a wrong attitude”.

“We respect the institutions of the state, even though they do not respect us”

He said he and AJUDEM accepted the ruling from the Constitutional Council. “The organs of the Mozambican state are sovereign,” he said. “We respect the institutions of the state, even though they do not respect us”.

But he warned that the exclusion of the AJUDEM list “deprives many thousands of municipal citizens of the right to express their opinion at the ballot box”.

“Tolerance is a basic rule of democracy”, Machel added, since not everybody “speaks with one voice”.

Machel declined to tell his supporters who they should vote for. He believed that each citizen should vote in accordance with his or her conscience.

“Do not stay at home just because AJUDEM and Samora Machel Junior are not on the ballot paper”, he urged. “That would not be good for our democracy. We must all vote. We must all comply with the dictates of citizenship. Only by voting can we make a difference”.

Machel remains a member, not only of Frelimo, but also of its Central Committee. By standing against the official Frelimo candidate for mayor, former Finance Minister Eneas Comiche, Machel had clearly violated the Party’s statutes, and risked expulsion.

“One door has closed, another has opened”

So far Frelimo has taken no disciplinary measures against him, and Machel declined to speculate on possible expulsion. He also refused to comment on reports that the top Frelimo leadership had intervened to stop him from becoming a Frelimo candidate. “I don’t like to speculate”, he insisted.

As for what position he would take towards next year’s presidential and parliamentary elections, Machel merely said “One door has closed, another has opened,” but would not elaborate on this cryptic remark.

The door that had closed was that to the municipal elections in October: and presumably the opening door leads to the 2019 general elections, but Machel gave no hint as to whether he intends to stand in those elections.

Source: AIM