Africa-Press – Cape verde. The Central Committee of the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo) chooses this Friday the candidate to succeed Filipe Nyusi as President of the Republic in October, but the list of three names to be proposed by the political commission remains unfinished.
Although there is no official list of pre-candidates, in the local media the emphasis is on the alleged interest of figures such as José Pacheco, member of the Central Committee who held various roles in previous governments, Celso Correia, current Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development , and Alberto Vaquina, former prime minister, as well as Samora Machel Júnior, son of the first Mozambican President (Samora Machel), or deputy Gabriel Júnior, who owns a private television channel.
“There were many names and the debate was lively. This is a matter of great importance and great responsibility ”, Francisco Mucanheia, from the Frelimo political committee, a body that met in Maputo today, told journalists at the beginning of the evening, with the meeting interrupted to resume at 09:00 local time (08:00) on Friday, which led to the Central Committee meeting being postponed to 13:00 local time (12:00 in Lisbon).
“ The political commission has been involved in this exercise for some time, it did not start today. But today, in fact, we have reached a decisive moment in the production of name proposals and we want to produce proposals that meet the expectations of Mozambicans and respond to the current challenges that the country faces” , he added.
Mucanheia also clarified that the extraordinary session of the Central Committee, which will take place in Matola, on the outskirts of Maputo, initially scheduled for 09:00 local time, has as its sole point the election of the party’s candidate for President of the Republic in the general elections on 9 October, in which Filipe Nyusi, also leader of Frelimo, can no longer compete, as he has reached the constitutional limit of two terms as head of state.
The names on the table of the political commission, which is responsible for the statutes to choose and take the party’s presidential candidate proposal to the Central Committee for a vote, motivated an internal debate, with Francisco Mucanheia admitting that it was “an exercise that will needs further investigation”, until a final decision is made on Friday.
“In principle, there must be three names [to be proposed to the Central Committee]. Let’s avoid expanding” , she clarified, ensuring that the names still being debated are “several” and “not necessarily just those that are disclosed”.
The expectation, he added, is that the meeting to finalize the three names will last for an hour, followed by the publication of the final list to the members of the Central Committee, for debate and voting during the afternoon.
Although there is no official list of pre-candidates, in the local media the emphasis is on the alleged interest of figures such as José Pacheco, member of the Central Committee who held various roles in previous governments, Celso Correia, current Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development , and Alberto Vaquina, former prime minister, as well as Samora Machel Júnior, son of the first Mozambican President (Samora Machel), or deputy Gabriel Júnior, who owns a private television channel.
Samora Machel, who is also a member of the Central Committee, and Gabriel Júnior have publicly expressed their willingness to run for the position, but the rest have not commented so far.
The deadline for presenting the lists of candidates for President of the Republic in the October elections to the Constitutional Council is June 10th.
Mozambique will hold its seventh presidential and legislative elections on October 9, the second for provincial governors and the fourth for provincial assemblies.
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