With a week to go before Mozambique’s general elections, Maputo is painted in the red of the governing Frelimo party, and its presidential candidate, Daniel Chapo, while electoral campaign material from the other parties is barely to be seen.
As Lusa toured the streets of the capital, the colours of the electoral propaganda of the only party that has governed Mozambique since independence in 1975 dominate the streets and avenues. From the simplest posters to the banners, tarpaulins and huge screens bearing the image of Chapo – who has been chosen by Frelimo as the successor to Filipe Nyusi, who has been in power for 10 years – the party of “drumming and blowtorches” completely occupies the electoral propaganda scene.
Frelimo’s traditional red also stands out on the cars, painted to perfection, or even on the stickers distributed in the streets.
The other three presidential candidates, and dozens of parties running in the legislative and provincial elections, which will also be chosen on 9 October, are limited to a few posters on some avenues, essentially with the faces of the presidential candidates they support, such as Ossufo Momade, for the main opposition Renamo party, Lutero Simango, for the third-largest party, the MDM, and Venâncio Mondlane, for the Optimistic Party for the Development of Mozambique (Podemos), a movement with no seats in parliament.
On Monday, a spokesman for the National Electoral Commission (CNE) admitted to a budget deficit in the run-up to the general elections, meaning that it is dependent on the support of suppliers, and also confirmed that not all of the funds earmarked for the contestants had yet been transferred.
“The electoral bodies continue to record a deficit, but the preparation activities continue at a good pace thanks to the goodwill of the suppliers and makers of the electoral process,” said the spokesman, Paulo Cuinica, while acknowledging that this is a fluid situation, due to the constant channelling of funds in instalments by the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
The spokesman acknowledged that of the 260 million meticais (€3.5 million) earmarked for the campaign of the political parties and candidates for President of the Republic, 50% was disbursed in the first phase, 25% in the second and another 25% in the third, upon presentation of the justifications for the use of the funds.
Of the 37 legislative contenders, Cuinica said, four had already received all the instalments while eight had yet to receive the second instalment because they had not submitted supporting documents.
Mondlane’s campaign, as well as those of Frelimo and six small extra-parliamentary political forces have not received the amounts earmarked for funding the presidential candidates and the political forces.
“There is also a party that has not received any instalments to date, because it has not yet formally requested access to the funds,” said Cuinica.
The CNE spokesman said that 90% of the material intended for the vote has already been produced and is on is way into the country, and should be in place at polling stations by polling day.
For the general elections, 184,310 polling station staff with another 10% of substitutes are being trained to serve the 26,330 polling stations, including 602 in the diaspora.
Mozambique is holding its seventh presidential elections on 9 October, in which the current head of state, Nyusi, who has reached the constitutional limit of two terms, is not standing, at the same time as the seventh legislative elections and the fourth for provincial assemblies and governors.
Elections will also take place for the national legislature, a well as provincial governors and assemblies.
More than 17 million people are registered to vote, including 333,839 registered abroad, according to CNE data.
