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Presidential and Parliamentary elections in Mozambique
3-4 December 1999
MAPUTO, Oct 11 1999 (AFP) -
Four candidates have registered for the presidential race in Mozambique's second multi-party polls due in December, an electoral official said Monday [11 Oct 1999].
- Incumbent President Joaquim Chissano of the Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (FRELIMO),
- Afonso Dhlakama
of the country's main opposition Resistência Nacional Moçambicana (RENAMO)- Yaqub Sibindi
, leader of the tiny Partido Independente de Moçambique (PIMO)- Wehia Ripua
, leader of the União Moçambicana Oposição (UMO), met the Monday deadline to registerThe fourth candidate, Rupia managed to register when the deadline was moved up from the weekend to Monday, according to the National Elections Commission (CNE) spokesman.
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RENAMO, which fought a 16-year civil war in a bid to oust the FRELIMO government before signing a peace pact in 1992, poses the main challenge to Chissano, while the remaining two are minority parties. The southern African country held its first democratic elections in 1994 which gave FRELIMO 129 seats in parliament, RENAMO 112 and the Democratic Union nine in the 250-seat assembly.
Chissano, a former liberation war fighter, who led a transition government after the 1974 Lusaka agreement with the Portuguese colonial regime, faces his main threat from ex-guerrilla leader Dhlakama. He started off as foreign minister in the government of late President Samora Machel. He became head of state following Machel's death in a plane crash in 1986. Chissano draws much of his support from his original home district in the south of the country. He also enjoys major support in the northern provinces of Cabo Delgado and Niassa, from when his FRELIMO launched the liberation war in 1964.
Dhlakama, who is from central Mozambique, was a fighter in the Portuguese army and after the 1974 accord he joined the RENAMO rebel movement. RENAMO was created and backed by the neighboring Rhodesian (now Zimbabwe) colonial regime of Ian Smith, to destabilize Mozambique. Dhlakama was placed second in the 1994 polls, coming after Chissano, and Rupia came third.
Ripua, who is from the northern Cabo Delgado province, is also a former independence fighter and used to be a FRELIMO commander in the northern provinces of Cabo Delgado and Niassa. The former foreign affairs official founded his Mozambique Democratic Party (PADEMO) after the country's civil war which ended in 1992.
Yaqub Sibindi also formed his controversial PIMO party after the 16-year-long civil conflict. Initially, PIMO stood for Islamic Party of Mozambique, but Sibindi was forced to change to Independent Party of Mozambique to enable him to participate in the 1994 elections since the electoral regulations did not allow any political parties with religious background. Sibindi recorded a poor showing in last elections even in his home province of Nampula, in the north of the country.
Parliamentary elections will run concurrently with presidential elections on December 3 and 4. RENAMO and 10 minor parties have formed a united front called the electoral union, which recognizes Dhlakama as the head.
