Chapo to become Frelimo leader in mid-February

Maputo, 21 Jan (AIM) – Mozambican President Daniel Chapo will be confirmed as President of the ruling Frelimo Party in mid-February.

The Frelimo spokesperson, Ludmila Maguni, cited by the independent television station STV, said Chapo will be elected President of Frelimo at an extraordinary meeting of the party’s Central Committee scheduled for 14 February.

Currently, the leader of Frelimo is the former President of the Republic, Filipe Nyusi.

There is nothing in the party’s statutes which says that the posts of President of the Republic and President of Frelimo must be held by the same person. But they always have been, and Maguni assumed that tradition will be continued. She did not suggest that there will be a contested election.

Back in 2015, in the transition from Armando Guebuza to Filipe Nyusi, there were strong suggestions (made by, among others, the Frelimo spokesperson Damiao Jose) that the two posts would be separated, and that Guebuza would continue to head the party.

It did not happen. Guebuza resigned from the Frelimo presidency, and Nyusi took over. Only for a few months after presidential elections have the post of party president and President of the Republic ever been held by different people.

The Central Committee meeting will also elect a new General Secretary, the post currently held by Chapo, and the other members of the Secretariat.
(AIM)
Pf/ (231)