Envoy speaks on Moza elections
AHEAD of this year’s October elections in Mozambique, the governing Frelimo party elected a new leader, Cde Daniel Francisco Chapo, to replace incumbent President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi. When Mozambique gained independence from Portugal in 1975, the young Chapo was just two-years-old. Now he will be the presidential candidate for Frelimo in the impending polls.
Our Senior Reporter, Joseph Madzimure (JM), sat down for a conversation with Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Maputo, Cde Victor Matemadanda (VM), to discuss issues around the impending polls.
JM: Can you give us an insight of what is happening in Mozambique ahead of the elections set for October this year? VM: Thank you for affording me this opportunity. The traditional way of Frelimo is that a candidate is elected a year before elections, but this time around the elections are going to be held on October 9 which means that there is not much time left. What I understand (is that) there were a number of candidates who contested for the highest office, but through their systems they reduced the candidates to a sizable number.
To start with, I am happy that the Central Committee of the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo) has elected Cde Daniel Francisco Chapo, the Governor of Inhambane Province as the party’s candidate for the upcoming presidential elections on October 9. He will replace the incumbent President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi who served since 2015 as the fourth President of Mozambique. He is the current leader of Frelimo, the party that has governed Mozambique since its independence from Portugal in 1975.
I know him personally. We have interacted on many occasions. He is development oriented and a regional communicator. He speaks fluent English. This is also important in modern day regional politics.
He is a lawyer by profession, a very level-headed person and he did some educational training here in Zimbabwe, he is also fluent in Shona.
He is a Pan-Africanist because we talked a lot about the region. He is very clear on where Africa should be. When we were talking, I could sense that he is a regional leader in-terms of operation and his appreciation of issues affecting the SADC region.
JM: As an observer, can you give us the selection criteria used to elect the successor? VM:
The selection of Cde Daniel Chapo, who has been a member of Frelimo since 2000, was made after an internal vote during the third day of the committee’s extraordinary meeting. The meeting, initially scheduled for Friday last week, saw the participation of all 254 members of the Central Committee.
Cde Chapo emerged as the winner of the internal election, securing an impressive 94.1 percent of the vote from the committee members. He is the frontrunner to succeed President Nyusi who has been in power since 2014. President Nyusi, also the President of Frelimo, is ineligible to run for a third term due to constitutional term limits.
Born in Inhaminga, Sofala Province, Cde Daniel Chapo holds a Degree in Law from the Faculty of Law at Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo.
JM: How did they come up with the succession plan and who qualifies to contest for the top office? VM:
The approach in Mozambique is that past presidents still have the influence in the selection process, they also nominate the presidential candidates.
However, all is now water under the bridge as they have to support the nominated candidate who will represent the party in the coming elections. There isn’t much time left to campaign.
During their extraordinary meeting, the political commission of Frelimo presented a list of pre-candidates that included Cdes Roque Silva, the party’s general secretary, Daniel Chapo and Damião José- a member of the Central Committee.
However, after intense internal debates, the committee added two additional names to the list- Cdes Esperança Bias, the president of Parliament and Francisco Mucanheia, an advisor to President Nyusi.
Cde Damião José later withdrew from the race. As per Frelimo’s statutes, the political commission is responsible for presenting a shortlist of three pre-candidates for the presidency to the Central Committee. With Cde Daniel Chapo now officially endorsed as Frelimo’s presidential candidate, the political landscape in Mozambique is set to witness an exciting contest as the country prepares for the upcoming general elections on October 9.
JM: Do you think he is the best candidate for Frelimo to retain the party’s supremacy in Mozambique?
VM: From my own assessment, he is the best candidate. I don’t see him failing to deliver. In Mozambique politics, Frelimo is still dominant, but there is need to be cautious of the current emerging post-independence political parties. JM: For decades, revolutionary political parties (former liberation movements) have been dominant in Southern Africa but there is a new trend of opposition political parties being sponsored by former colonisers. What do you think needs to be done to counter foreign interference or influence in regional politics?
VM: I think revolutionary or former liberation
movements need to go back to the drawing board and see how best they can counter neo-colonial interests. The enemy is still fighting hard and pushing for regime change by influencing our youth to revolt against revolutionary parties. Our former colonisers are regrouping and moulding the neo-colonial agenda. They are bringing back to Africa all sorts of euphemistic and ephemeral ideologies. Now we do not have opposition parties who respect the outcome of the elections. Their motivation is power for power’s sake without any plausible or alternative policies. The former colonisers are intent on recolonising Africa by using proxies. This, they are doing through various ways that include sponsoring so-called civil society organisations and directly funding some political parties.