Samora Machel Júnior set on running for president of Mozambique, due to present pre-candidacy at Frelimo CC meeting

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Samora Machel Júnior set on running for president of Mozambique, due to present pre-candidacy at Frelimo CC meeting

9:57 CAT | 02 Apr 2024

File photo: Mozambique Online

The son of the country’s first president will present his pre-candidacy at the Frelimo central committee meeting to be held on April 5th and 6th.

Samora Machel Júnior wants to run for president of the Republic of Mozambique. In the coming days, the businessman will formalize this decision with Frelimo’s internal bodies, probably at the party’s central committee itself, which will meet on April 5th and 6th (Friday and Saturday) in Maputo, Jornal de Negócios has learned from a source linked to the process.

Samora Machel Júnior is the son of the country’s first post-independence president, the charismatic Samora Machel, who died in 1986, and of charismatic Frelimo leader Josina Abiatar Muthemba Machel, who died in 1971. April 7, the day of Josina’s death, is the National Women’s Day in Mozambique. Samora Machel Junior is the stepson of Graça Machel, who was also married to the historic leader of South Africa, Nelson Mandela.

The general elections in Mozambique are scheduled for October 4th and, at this point, it is already certain that the current president and leader of Frelimo, Filipe Nyusi, has ruled out any possibility of revising the Constitution to remain in power.

Next weekend’s Frelimo central committee meeting does not officially include discussion of the party’s candidate for leadership of the country, but Samora Machel Júnior will force the issue, presenting his pre-candidacy. This dragging out of the process is seen as a way of delaying a presidential candidate’s choice .José Pacheco, Eduardo Mulembwe, Alberto Vaquina, Luísa Diogo, Aires Aly and Basílio Monteiro are other personalities who have been identified as potential candidates.

In a document to which Jornal Negócios had access, Samora Machel Júnior, states that his “candidacy is based on the principles of the search for peace, respect for diversity and difference, the promotion of inclusion and equality, human dignity” and intends to “ensure Mozambique’s economic growth” guaranteeing “an environment conducive to development” in the country. “My candidacy is a mix of concerns but also hope, aiming to provide answers to the problems and desires of Mozambicans”, highlights the candidate.

According to the Carta Moçambique website, “the suspense surrounding the Frelimo pre-candidates is the longest in the history of this political formation, in 62 years of existence, which has always chosen its ‘trump cards’ at least 10 months in advance. The succession by Armando Guebuza, for example, began to be designed in 2013 and his successor became known on the first day of March 2014, having had the opportunity to carry out a pre-campaign throughout the year and using State resources”.

In the aforementioned document, Samora Machel Júnior outlines the guiding principles of his candidacy and proposes “a governance which must be guided by reforms based on our current reality, promoting changes which prove to be necessary and which reflect the real needs of the people”. And he adds: “We will use concrete data to guide public policies, promoting the financial strength of the State and the rationalization of public expenditure, ensuring that each reform has a measurable positive impact. We propose a participatory and citizen governance to ensure that government decisions objectively represent the interests of Mozambicans.

By Celso Filipe

Source: Jornal de Negócios