Frelimo inner-party elections: Some senior figures fail to be re-elected

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Frelimo inner-party elections: Some senior figures fail to be re-elected

7:24 CAT | 09 Jul 2019

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in file CoM

The election of candidates of the ruling Frelimo Party for the 15 October parliamentary elections, in extraordinary meetings over the weekend of the Frelimo provincial committees, caused the fall of several senior figures in the party.

Thus in the southern province of Gaza, former Prime Minister Alberto Vaquina, who had topped the Frelimo list in the 2014 elections, now finds himself demoted to the last name in the list of supplementary candidates. The supplementary candidates will only enter the country’s parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, if some of the full candidates die or resign.

In the northern province of Cabo Delgado, Mateus Katupha, who is currently the spokesperson for the Assembly’s governing board, its Standing Commission, failed to secure any place on the list. He is one of the longest serving members of the Frelimo parliamentary group, and was first elected a parliamentary deputy in 1994.

In Maputo province, the current spokesperson of the Frelimo parliamentary group, Eduardo Galiza-Matos Junior, only managed election as a supplementary candidate. Another Frelimo deputy from the province who will not be re-elected is former Finance Minister Manuel Chang, who is currently languishing in a South African jail, awaiting extradition to Mozambique where he is accused of crimes relating to the illegal guarantees for two billion dollars worth of loans which he signed in 2013 and 2014.

In the central province of Manica, the current deputy chairperson of the Assembly, Antonio Amelia, may be in difficulties. He was elected, but only as number ten on the list. There are 17 seats in Manica, and the main opposition party, Renamo, could easily take half of them, thus knocking Amelia out of parliament.

The provincial lists are not yet complete. One or two places at the top of the lists have been left vacant and will be filled by the Frelimo Political Commission. In previous parliamentary elections, the head of the Frelimo list in each province was a member of the Political Commission.

The weekend meetings of the provincial committees also elected Frelimo candidates for the provincial assemblies. But in each province the head of the list, who will become provincial governor in the event of a Frelimo victory, will be appointed by President Filipe Nyusi, in his capacity as President of Frelimo, following consultation with the Political Commission.

Source: AIM