Venancio Mondlane submits candidature for presidential election

Maputo, 7 Jun (AIM) – Venancio Mondlane, the candidate for mayor of Maputo for Mozambique’s main opposition party, Renamo, in last year’s municipal elections, on Thursday submitted his nomination papers to run as an independent in the presidential election scheduled for 9 October.

Accompanied by several hundred mainly young supporters, Mondlane deposited boxes full of supporting signatures with the Constitutional Council, the country’s highest body in matters of constitutional and electoral law. The Council must check the validity and authenticity of all the documents submitted by presidential candidates.

Speaking to reporters after delivering his nomination papers, Mondlane said he had managed to collect 350,000 signatures. Of these, he believed that 110,000 were “unquestionably valid”.

One of the requirements for any presidential candidate is a minimum of 10,000 and a maximum of 20,000 supporting signatures. Each of these must be accompanied by a voter card number, and must be authenticated by a notary. Mondlane said he deposited 20,000 signatures with the Constitutional Council.

Contrary to initial expectations, Mondlane has not attempted to set up a new political party. Instead, his candidature is supported by the Democratic Alliance Coalition (CAD), a grouping of nine tiny organizations, none of which have any representation in the provincial or municipal assemblies, let alone in the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic.

Mondlane said he hoped to eliminate the idea of blind loyalty to a political party.

“The great expectation of Mozambicans, and my own expectation, is that we make the transition away from political party fundamentalism, which has greatly damaged our democracy”, he stressed.

“We must pass into a new era in which the paradigm is partnership, union, reconciliation and a common agenda”, he declared.

Although just nine parties were members of the CAD, Mondlane claimed that a total of 21 parties are supporting his presidential bid (although he did not name them).

He added that the CAD hoped to put an end to fraud in Mozambican elections, and was training a team to be on the lookout for fraud.

The chairperson of the Constitutional Council, Lucia Ribeiro, said the Council will check the paperwork of Mondlane and all the other candidates, and will notify them of any irregularities.

She hoped that by 25 or 26 June, this work will be complete and the Council will then be able to draw lots for the position of the candidates on the ballot paper.

The driving force behind the CAD was the lawyer and human rights activist, the late Alice Mabota. But Mabota died in October 2023, and since then the CAD has been moribund, although its Facebook page is occasionally updated.

If the CAD is to take part in the parliamentary and provincial elections, also scheduled for 9 October, it has until next Monday, 10 June, to submit the nomination papers for its candidates.

(AIM)

Pf/ (476)