28 April 2008
Maputo — Manuel Pereira, a leading parliamentarian for the former rebel movement Renamo, has declared his intention to stand for Mayor of the country's second largest city, Beira, in the November local elections - even though the incumbent mayor, Daviz Simango, widely regarded as the most successful opposition politician in the country, has publicly stated his desire to stand for a second term.
Beira is generally considered a Renamo stronghold, but if Renamo allows itself the luxury of a split, the city could easily fall into the hands of the ruling Frelimo Party. In the 2003 municipal elections, Simango won with 53.5 per cent of the vote, the Frelimo candidate took 42.2 per cent, and minor candidates accounted for the rest.
Pereira told journalists in Beira on Saturday that he intended to be the Renamo candidate for mayor. This meant that Renamo should no longer support Simango because the current mayor "has no party history".
Simango and his brother Lutero were members of a minor opposition group, the National Convention Party (PCN), which is one of the ten parties allied to Renamo in the Renamo-Electoral Union coalition. Nonetheless, the PCN certainly worked very closely with Renamo, and until now it was generally assumed that Renamo would have no difficulty in backing Simango for re-election.
According to Monday's issue of the Beira daily "Diario de Mocambique", Pereira said that, when a brigade from Renamo headquarters visited Beira, they found that the party's grass roots "wants a candidate who has a history inside Renamo. Personally I began to receive phone calls from militants in Beira asking me to stand because I have such a history".
Pereira then spoke with Renamo general secretary Ossufo Momade who saw "no inconvenience". He drew up the necessary paper work for his candidature and deposited it in the Renamo central offices.
So was he blocking any attempt by Simango to run for a second term? "I'm not talking about anybody else, I'm just talking about my candidature", replied Pereira. "Democracy states that, even if he doesn't have a history in the party, anybody can present his candidature. The grass roots have the right to choose the candidate they think will best represent them. I think I will not be the only candidate, I've heard other names, but I'm not concerned about the others".
Pereira certainly has a lengthy history in Renamo. He has been a Renamo member of parliament since 1994, and for over a decade he was Renamo Sofala provincial delegate. Prior to the end of the war of destabilisation, in 1992, he was a clandestine Renamo organiser in Beira, recruiting youths for the Renamo rebel forces.
The risk Renamo runs is that, if the party does choose Pereira as its candidate, Simango may run as an independent, splitting the Renamo vote, and making a Frelimo victory possible.
Pf/ (481)
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