Maputo, 12 May (AIM) – The Political Commission of Mozambique’s ruling Frelimo Party has approved a directive for the party’s internal elections which will determine the Frelimo candidates for mayor in the country’s 65 municipalities.
Cited by the independent television station STV, the Frelimo spokesperson, Ludmila Maguni, said the Political Commission had discussed the internal elections at its meeting in Maputo on Wednesday.
The directive on the elections, she said, “will consolidate the internal democracy of the party. The next step is to take the directive to the provinces”.
Mayors are no longer directly elected. The municipal elections to be held on 11 October will elect municipal assemblies, and whoever is at the top of the list of the party winning the largest share of the vote will become the mayor. Hence, the internal Frelimo elections will decide who is the head of the list for each municipality.
Five months prior to the municipal elections, Frelimo has become the first party to begin the procedures for selecting candidates.
Both of the main opposition parties, Renamo and the MDM (Mozambique Democratic Movement), have promised to context all 65 municipalities, but neither has yet begun choosing their candidates.
(AIM)
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