Africa-Press – Mozambique. Alberto Ferreira resigned yesterday as secretary-general of Mozambique’s largest opposition party Podemos, for “personal reasons”, almost two months after his election was confirmed by the Maputo court,
“For personal reasons, I came to the conclusion that I should resign. After that victory in court, there was silence [from the party],” Alberto Ferreira, secretary-general of Podemos, the largest opposition party in Mozambique, told Lusa this Thursday (07-08).
On June 17, the KaMavota court in Maputo city upheld Alberto Ferreira’s request to prevent the political party from holding a second round of elections for secretary-general, which he claimed to have won with 37% of the vote.
The results of the election, held on May 24 and 25 during the party’s Central Council session, were rejected by the electoral commission, allegedly because the candidate did not have an absolute majority, thus suggesting a second round.
Court ruled in favour of Ferreira
In a ruling dated June 11, signed by Judge Céndia Tomás and seen by Lusa, the court ordered the party to refrain from holding a second round of elections for the position of secretary-general or “from any act that could jeopardize the election already completed” until a final decision by the court.
In the document Alberto Ferreira submitted on May 29, he called for the “immediate suspension” of any attempt to call a second round of elections, arguing that it is against the statutes and “seriously undermines the institutional and democratic stability of the party”.
Alberto Ferreira was a member of the parliamentary group of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) in the last legislative term and is now a member of Podemos, the party he claims to have founded.
In the October 9 elections, Podemos, which had never had a member of parliament since its creation, became the largest opposition party in Mozambique, taking over that status from Renamo, which had held it since the first multiparty elections held in Mozambique in 1994.
For More News And Analysis About Mozambique Follow Africa-Press
