Maputo, Mozambique — Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano has informed the ruling Frelimo Party that he will step down at the end of his current term of office which ends in 2004.
Chissano made the announcement Tuesday during a meeting of the Frelimo Central Committee under way in the southern city of Matola, just outside Maputo the capital.
The meeting's spokesman, Bernardo Cherinda, who is also the Central Committee Secretary for Mobilisation and Propaganda, told reporters that Chissano justified his decision on grounds of "respect for the internal democracy of Frelimo."
Cherinda had hours earlier confidently denied that the meeting would discuss the succession.
Now that the president himself put the question on the agenda, Cherinda said: "This question was not on the agenda approved on the first day of the meeting (Monday) but it had been put before the Political Commission of our party. And since we are on course for our next Congress, we saw it as important."
Asked whether Chissano would continue to hold the post of president of Frelimo, Cherinda said this was a matter to be decided by the Congress.
Since Mozambican independence in 1975, the same person, first Samora Machel, and later Chissano, has always held the posts of president of Frelimo and president of the Republic himself.
Indeed Mozambique's first constitution, which lasted from 1975 to 1990, stated specifically that the president of Frelimo was the head of state.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Election of the head of state by universal suffrage was introduced in the 1990 constitution. This stated that the president of the republic may be re-elected twice. Chissano was elected in 1994 and re-elected in 1999 - he would therefore be within his constitutional right to stand again in 2004.
Cherinda declined to speculate on possible successors to Chissano - but the obvious potential candidates are Chissano's close friend and ally, Prime Minister Pascoal Mocumbi, the leader of the Frelimo Parliamentary group, Armando Guebuza, and the chairperson of the Mozambican parliament, Eduardo Mulembue.
One possibility that should not be ruled out is that, if Frelimo cannot reach consensus over a successor, the party may ask Chissano to reconsider his decision to step down.
The final decision, however, is likely to be taken at the party's eighth congress due to be held in the first half of 2002.
One factor certain to have weighed in Chissano's decision is his age. In 2004 he will be 65, making him 70 at the end of a third term.
