Costa is competing for one of just three places reserved for civil society on the 13 member CNE. These candidates must be nominated by a bona fide civil society organization, and the nomination papers are then sent to an ad-hoc commission of the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, which is drawing up a short list of 16 candidates.
When Costa was first appointed to the CNE, in 2007, he was indeed nominated by the ONP. This time round, he claims that the ONP once again invited him to be a candidate and he accepted. The ad-hoc commission chairperson, Carlos Moreira Vasco, says that nomination papers from the ONP did indeed arrive at the Assembly on 10 April.
But the vehement denials from the ONP leadership raise the possibility that these nomination papers are forgeries. ONP President Beatriz Muhoro, contacted by the independent newssheet “Mediafax”, declared “We have nothing against Dr Leopoldo. However, the fact is that he has no authorization from the ONP to run as a candidate for the CNE in the name of the ONP”.
“We demand that he withdraw his candidacy, since we do not identify with it”, Muhoro added.
The ONP says it became aware of Costa’s bid for a second term on the CNE through the mass media, and stresses that, if documents supposedly from the ONP have been used to back up his candidacy, they must be false.
“Only the ONP Presidency, after consultation with the National Council, has the legitimacy to approve candidacies of this kind in the name of the organization”, said Muhoro. “We never received any expression of interest and we never discussed the matter”.
The ONP is also irritated that the Assembly of the Republic has not yet reacted to a letter of protest it sent on 18 April, declaring that Costa’s candidacy does not have its support. “We demanded that the truth be restored”, said Muhoro. “But so far there has been no reply from parliament, and we feel indignant”.
Muhoro admitted that there could have been “internal connivance” by some ONP officials, but such a scheme was entirely illegitimate, and could have no effect without the support of the ONP Presidency.
A statement issued by the ONP on Monday, signed by its deputy president Rosario Quive, and now widely distributed over the Internet, says the first it knew of Costa’s candidacy was from an article published by the Sunday paper “Domingo” on 14 April. The union then investigated the matter and concluded that “none of the central bodies of the National Teachers’ Union ever held a meeting to discuss this candidacy, because there was not even any request for the Union to support any candidate”.
“Mediafax” goes further and claims that Costa was asked to put his name forward by the secretariat of the ruling Frelimo Party. When the ONP would not go along with this, the paper claimed, documents and signatures were forged, though the report does not put a name to any of the alleged forgers.
“Mediafax” points out that forging signatures is a criminal offence, and that the Attorney-General’s Office should step in to identify and prosecute those involved.
Post published in: Africa News