Other candidates could have stood, but in the event Nyusi was unopposed. In the secret ballot election he received 186 votes. There were two blank ballots and one invalid vote.
Immediately after taking office as the new Frelimo President, Nyusi promised to work “for effective peace, because it is only with peace that we shall develop Mozambique”.
Nyusi said he was well aware of the heavy burden that now falls on his shoulders – but believed he would receive the unstinting support of his two predecessors (Armando Guebuza and Joaquim Chissano) and of all other party members, so that Frelimo can continue to implement its agenda in support of the welfare of the Mozambican people.
“I shall be open to contributions from all our partners”, said Nyusi. “I shall not deviate from the main agenda of our party, which seeks to do all for the good of the Mozambican people”
Thus Frelimo has returned to the historical norm, whereby the posts of President of the Republic and President of Frelimo are held by the same person.
Last week it seemed briefly possible that this tradition would be broken. On Wednesday, at a press conference preceding the opening of the Central Committee meeting, the party’s spokesperson, Damiao Jose, said that the question of who would succeed Guebuza was not on the meeting’s agenda. The succession, Jose claimed, “is not a concern for the Party”.
Guebuza had been re-elected President of Frelimo at the Party’s Tenth Congress, held in the northern city of Pemba in 2012. Jose said that Guebuza would complete his term of office – meaning he would only leave the presidency at the next Frelimo congress, scheduled for 2017.
At the opening of the Central Committee meeting on Thursday, Guebuza gave a combative speech which may have been his undoing. He criticized unnamed members of Frelimo who “publicly undertook activities which disturbed the normal functioning of the party bodies”, and which would only “generate division and confusion among us”.
One respected Frelimo veteran, Jorge Rebelo, the former head of the Frelimo ideology department, immediately denounced this speech as an attempt to “intimidate” Central Committee members so that they would not raise “relevant questions”. Although Rebelo was the only senior figure who went public with his concerns, it is now clear that they were widely shared.
By Sunday Guebuza’s position had become untenable, and he recognized it. Announcing the resignation, Damiao Jose told reporters “Comrade Armando Guebuza said he had undertaken a profound reflection and, in order to maintain the unity and cohesion of Frelimo, taking into account the moment we are living through, and after consulting some party comrades, he reached the conclusion that now was the appropriate moment to resign”.
From this statement, it seems that Guebuza accepted that by remaining in office he would endanger “the unity and cohesion of Frelimo”.
Although Jose said that Central Committee members were “surprised” by the resignation, they moved quickly to fill the vacancy, immediately setting up an elections commission and inviting candidates. Nobody was in the mood to challenge Nyusi’s right to succeed Guebuza.
Nyusi’s rise has been meteoric. He was virtually unknown, and had held no government position until Guebuza appointed him Defence Minister in 2008. He was elected to the Frelimo Central Committee at the Pemba Congress in 2012.
At a meeting in February-March 2014, the Central Committee elected Nyusi the party’s candidate for the October presidential election. In the internal election Nyusi defeated better-known candidates, including the then Prime Minister (Alberto Vaquina) and two former Prime Ministers (Luisa Diogo and Aires Ali).
At the relatively young age of 55, Nyusi won the election with 57 per cent of the votes. Fears that he might still be overshadowed by Guebuza have been dispelled, and Nyusi now combines the authority of head of state with that of President of the ruling party.
Post published in: Africa News