Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Maputo (Agenzia Fides) – Over 10 million Mozambican voters (of a population of a little over 22 million) will hit the polls tomorrow, October 28, for presidential elections, nationals and provincials.
It is the fourth election after the arrival of the various political parties in 1994, two years after the end of the civil war that had lasted from 1976 to 1992. The conflict led to a million lives lost and inestimable damages to the national economy.
Since then, Mozambique has rediscovered peace and been led by the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO), the former liberation movement that fought against Portuguese colonialism and took over power in the independence movement in 1975. It is an independence that was looked down upon by the government of what was then Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), which did not appreciate the support offered by the Mozambican authorities to the movements fighting against the racist regime in Rhodesia. Rhodesia favored the formation of the National Resistance of Mozambique (RENAMO), an armed opposition movement, which provoked the civil war. After the fall of the Rhodesian regime (1979), the South African secret service supported the RENAMO. In the early 1990s, peace negotiations were finally arranged (with a contribution from the Community of Sant'Egidio), which led to the Rome Accords in 1992. RENAMO has since become a political party and has been the leading opposition party.
In the elections now, the FRELIMO candidate seems to be the favorite: incumbent President Armando Guebuza, considered the richest man in the country, thanks to his investments in various parts of the national economy. The recent appearance of a new party, the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM), founded by Daviz Simango, Mayor of Beira, has now brought change to the previous feud between the FRELIMO and RENAMO. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 27/10/2009)
