/ 30 November 1999

CHISSANO CONFIDENT OF ELECTION WIN

MOZAMBICAN President Joaquim Chissano assured foreign investors on Tuesday his country would remain stable even if his ruling Frelimo party lost its parliamentary majority in elections due this week. But he told a southern African investment conference in Maputo that he was still confident his party would strengthen its parliamentary position after the December 3 and 4 elections. He was responding to a question on investor concerns over the possibility that while he was likely to win the presidential vote, his party might lose its thin parliamentary majority, leaving him to rule with a hostile parliament. Mozambique is one of Africa’s poorest countries but has one of the fastest growing economies on the continent and the government has worked hard in recent years to woo foreign investors. Voters have a choice of two for the presidency — Chissano and opposition Renamo party leader Afonso Dhlakama — and 10 parties and three coalitions for the parliamentary elections.