Situation Report: Upcoming Local Elections in Mozambique: Context, Meaning and Relevance, Eduardo Serpa

On 19 November 2003, Mozambique will hold the second local government elections in its history. While these elections need to be understood in the context of a country which, over the past 10 years and after two decades of civil strife, has achieved a spectacular economic growth rate, an adequate assessment of the context, meaning and relevance of the up-coming poll must relate to the current socio-economic and political environment in the country. Macro-economic conditions will inevitably play a role since the current economic growth has brought little benefit to the majority of a population stricken by unemployment, poverty and the beginning of the transition from an asymptomatic HIV pandemic to one of full-blown AIDS. In addition, the impact of recent political crises, largely connected to widespread corruption and reprehensible behaviour by the main political parties, cannot be ignored as factors influencing the election outcome.