Maputo, 1 Jun (AIM) – Ossufo Momade, the leader of Mozambique’s main opposition party, Renamo, on Friday submitted his nomination papers to the Constitutional Council for the presidential election scheduled for 9 October.
The Constitutional Council, the country’s highest body in matters of constitutional and electoral law, must check the legality and authenticity of all the documentation submitted by presidential candidates.
This includes a minimum of 10,000 and a maximum of 20,000 supporting signatures from registered voters. Each of these must be duly identified and confirmed by a notary.
According to Momade’s election agent, Geraldo de Carvalho, Renamo has collected many more signatures that required – a total of 198,000.
The other documents legally required of a presidential candidate include authenticated photocopies of his identity card and voter card, his criminal record certificate, and passport-type photographs.
Carvalho told reporters he is confident that the paperwork is all in order, and will be accepted by the Constitutional Council.
“We made an effort to comply with the deadlines”, he said, “and we are at the disposal of the Council to suppress any irregularities”.
He claimed that Momade is defending the legacy of his predecessors as Renamo leader, Andre Matsangaissa, and Afonso Dhlakama, and that he is the candidate “who supports the longings of Mozambicans”.
Momade was re-elected leader of Renamo at a Congress held in the central municipality of Alto Molocue on 15-17 May, and his nomination as presidential candidate was immediately rubber-stamped by the Renamo National Council.
For her part, the chairperson of the Constitutional Council, Lucia Ribeiro, said the Council will inspect the Renamo documents for any irregularities, and if any were found, it would notify the party to correct them.
Renamo is the first of the major parties to deliver its presidential nomination papers, ahead of the candidates of the ruling Frelimo Party, Daniel Chapo, and of the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), Lutero Simango.
(AIM)
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