Beira — Citizens in the central Mozambican city of Beira turned out en masse at the city's 260 polling stations on Wednesday, after a fiercely contested local election campaign in which the current mayor, Daviz Simango is fighting for a second term of office against challenges from both his old party, Renamo (from which he was expelled in September), and from the ruling Frelimo Party.

Most of the Beira polling stations opened on time, at 07.00, and one of the first to vote was Sofala Provincial Governor Alberto Vaquina, in a school in the Ponta-Gea neighbourhood.

After voting, Vaquina told reporters he felt pleased at the opportunity to express his opinion as to should govern Beira. "I'd like to invite al my fellow citizens to do the same", he said, "with the civic attitude and good manners that are part of our culture in Beira, Sofala, and indeed in Mozambique as a whole".

Vaquina said the queues at the polling stations were a good sign, and he urged people not to feel discouraged just because they might have a long wait ahead of them. "Don't give up! Don't give up!", he said. "This is an opportunity and a democratic rights that each of us has, to make our choices".

The Frelimo candidate for mayor, Lourenco Bulha, also voted in Ponta-Gea. He said that Frelimo could take credit for the large turnout, because it had mobilized many people, including opposition supporters to vote.

"And do you know why?", he asked. "Because in the voting booth they might vote, not for their own party, but for us. That's why we mobilized everybody".

Bulha said he was confident of victory. If he had felt any doubts, "I would have dropped out of the contest last week", he said.

Likewise the official Renamo candidate, Manuel Pereira, said he too expected to win - but added that he was "prepared for any result".

Simango had to wait to vote, since his polling station, in the Palmeiras neighbourhood was one of several that opened late. The delay in opening, however, was less than an hour.

Much of the press (including the AIM correspondent in Beira) missed Simango, because the protocol list drawn up by the Sofala Provincial Elections (CPE) put him as the last of the candidates to vote. (Prominent figures on the protocol list are allowed to jump the queues at the polling station).

Simango refused to accept a lowly position on the CPE list, and instead voted as soon as he could. His elder brother, Lutero, told AIM that the order of names on the CPE's list made no sense. Since Daviz Simango was still mayor of the city, he should have been placed near the top of the list, immediately after the governor.

The long queues in Beira are a clear sign that turnout will be much higher than at the last local elections in 2003, when only 26.7 per cent of the city's registered electorate voted.