Maputo — As expected, Mozambique's National Elections Commission (CNE) has chosen the Lutheran pastor, Arao Litsuri as its chairperson.
The other 18 members of the CNE met on Wednesday to discuss the four candidates for the post. Under the new law on the CNE passed last September, the candidates had to be proposed by civil society bodies.
Litsuri was very much a last minute candidate, proposed by the Christian Council of Mozambique (CCM), weeks after the loose coalition of groups and individuals, the Movement for Peace and Citizenship, held meetings in all the provinces and proposed three names - journalist Salomao Moyana, director of the independent weekly "Zambeze", Alice Mabota, chairperson of the Human Rights League (LDH), and teacher Ana da Graca Ernesto.
But the man who proved most popular at the Movement's meetings, and who would have enjoyed a broad consensus, the Anglican bishop of the Libombos diocese, Dinis Sengulane, declined to stand. According to a report in last week's issue of the weekly paper "Savana", Litsuri was, in reality, the candidate favoured by the ruling Frelimo Party. Alice Mabota, a former member of the National Convention Party (PCN), one of the minor parties in the Renamo-Electoral Union coalition, and a fierce critic of the government, was clearly the choice of the opposition.
Since there was no consensus, the 18 CNE members voted (in a secret ballot), and the result was 10 votes for Litsuri, seven for Mabota and one for Moyana. CNE deputy chairperson Angelica Salomao announced the result on Wednesday night.
Given that 10 of the 18 were appointed by Frelimo, and eight by Renamo, this was an obvious, and depressing, split along party political lines.
The person with the best credentials to lead the CNE in a transparent and impartial manner, Moyana, never stood a chance.
Over the years his journalism has denounced both Frelimo and Renamo, and so he was acceptable to neither.
According to Thursday's issue of the independent newsheet "Mediafax", the Renamo CNE members participated in the vote under protest, pointing out that the CCM was also active in the Movement for Peace and Citizenship.
So it looked as if the CCM, after being involved in the Movement's choice of Mabota, Moyana and Ernesto, suddenly changed its mind and produced its own candidate. Inevitably, there are suggestions of political pressure on the CCM.
The 48 year old Litsuri is a theologian and a musician. He is a pastor in the United Congregational Church of Mozambique, and has chaired the CCM since 2000.
Litsuri has promised to act with transparency and independence in his new role. He claims that he brings to the CNE practical experience in resolving conflicts in a peaceful and democratic way.
He succeeds another churchman, the methodist pastor and academic, Jamisse Taimo, who headed the 1999 CNE which organised the presidential and parliamentary elections of that year. The immediate challenge facing Litsuri and the other 18 CNE members is to update the electoral registers, in preparation for the municipal elections that must be held later this year.
